Perspective
by DarkParadise
Summary: After the events of DmC (Part 5) life needs to continue. But that's easier said than done. In the end there is one main question: Where is Vergil? And then the search starts. / Main characters: Dante (point of view), Kat, Vergil, Phineas - rated M for violence and language (just to be on the safe side)
1. After Vergil left

Status: not beta-ed (sorry, I hope you enjoy though)  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of DmC.

**After Vergil left ...**

Dante looked into Kat's eyes. He had not cared about anyone in the years after his father had brought him to the orphanage but that was different now. He cared about her. And about Vergil. He could see the same pain in her eyes that he felt deep inside, too, and he knew that she had loved Vergil more than she loved him what gave him another sting to the heart. But now it was just him who was left. She had to be confused but she didn't show it.

"I want you to seal the place where the hell gate has been", he finally said. The thought of someone finding a way to open it again made his blood boil even now. Adrenalin only slowly faded. He could still feel his heart pounding hard against his hurting chest.

She nodded. They made their way in silence. Although the demons swarmed the city there were none around the tower. This area was cleared. Maybe they knew what had happened here only minutes ago or they had gotten crashed within Mundus' transformation. Either way there was time now to find back to the normal world, to breath the air of the oncoming evening, to see the damage the town suffered, to feel the victory of freedom. The Silver Sacks Towers were wrecked. It looked different from here than from Limbo - more frail. Even though parts of the ground had flown upwards into the next floor and higher Dante had been lesser worried. Just as precaution he held Kat's hand who clung to him eagerly. They entered a floor Mundus had crashed during the fight. Giant parts of the ceiling had collapsed. Dante remembered Vergil at his side the last time he had been here. His eyes narrowed to slits while he felt anger flowing through his veins. But last time he hadn't known - only guessed. Pheneas had been right. Who would take Mundus' place once he's gone? The question hadn't left him until Vergil said those words which had caused more damage than every battle of the recent days: The path is free for us to rule. He wouldn't have been a good emperor of mankind even if Dante considered not to jump right at his throat just for suggesting it. Vergil would have sacrificed Kat much earlier. He would probably sacrifice nations if given the chance. And what about Dante himself? He could barely decide over his own actions let alone over those of billions of people much more fragile than himself. But he could try to protect them. All he had to do was killing demons and that was something he was good in. He would stay and fight and protect.

"Can you seal the whole room?", Dante asked as they reached what had been Mundus' main office. There was a wall now instead of a hell gate but the Nephilim could easily remember the reddish glow and the feeling of power radiating from it. Getting here was so easy now.

"I will need some time and help", Kat answered still holding her wounded arm. Something nearby made a terrible noise like another ceiling had just given in. The medium clung to Dante in fear. He would lie if he said he didn't like it. The role of the protector. It was new to him but it felt good.

"Let's hurry up then." There was no fear in his voice but a slight undertone of fatigue. While they painted the pentagram over the whole room - even at the walls - they didn't speak a word. The demon hunter could only guess what was going on in Kat's mind. What future could she expect? She had no weapons, no abilities that would be useful in a fight. But he couldn't stay at her side for forever beginning now, could he? No more parties at night clubs, no more screwing around with female strangers, no more getting drunk just for the sake of it. Instead hoping that she would love him, stay with him? No, that was just not his style. She was a friend - his only friend to tell the truth. That made her more special than a lover. To make sure she would survive in this world of humans and demons living together he would have to teach her how to fight. He would do better than Vergil, he would appreciate her more, care more about her. To him she wasn't a subject but the strongest human he had ever met.

"We're done", she finally announced. The sign didn't look much different from the one she had used to protect the main server back at The Orders headquarters.

"Will this be enough?"

She nodded and tried a small smile. He nodded then, too. This was something he had to trust her with. And he did without hesitation.

"Let's get out of here then." He approached the crack in the wall far opposite from where the hell gate had been. Mundus and he had fallen down from here. He vividly remembered the pain just like the agony in his chest from Mundus trying to tear his heart out of it. Just for a moment he had thought he would die. It gave living a new quality. He guessed he had felt the same fear when he had watched Mundus kill his mother but he couldn't remember.

"Will it persist if the building collapses completely?"

"I don't know for sure. If Limbo still existed I would be certain because the structure of this world only partly influenced the structure of Limbo. But now ... It could have been in vain." She started to doubt her abilities, Dante could see it by the way she averted eye contact, the way she shifted insecurely and by her voice getting quieter. It all combined to a beautiful but so much human woman. There was no use to being able to wander off through Limbo or to create portals at rifts to it for there was no Limbo anymore. All she had been able to was useless now except for the sealing. And there he had been, asking her who he was now. She had far much more right to doubt herself. But she had encouraged him. She had been strong for him like she had been for Vergil. His brother had not returned the favor but Dante would. He should try to comfort her.

"I'm sure it'll work. Let's go." He reached out a hand to her again. As soon as he felt her warm grip he drew her closer, resting an arm around her waist - and jumped. She only realized what had happened as they landed on the ground in front of the giant skyscrapers. Only few inches were left between the hard concrete and her feet in that moment before Dante carefully lowered her to the ground.

"Are you insane! I could have broken my legs or worse!", she finally started to cry. Dante had guessed she had been close to breaking point all along. No one could be that strong. It was mean of him to shock her like this but she would feel much better soon. So he hold her close, ignored the resistance she put up at first before she leaned against him and cried. He wanted to say something but couldn't think of anything that would fit the situation. _You can trust me_? How often did Vergil say that probably? It would only hurt her more. So he stayed silent with her warm body so close to his that he could feel his shirt getting wet by her tears. Patiently he waited for her breath to even.

After Kat calmed down they had to solve a new problem.

"So, er ... Do you have a place to stay?", Dante asked when she drew back. She wiped her eyes with the sleeves of her hoodie.

"There is an old building next to the headquarters of The Order. Vergil and I used to stay there along with some other members. I don't know if can sleep there ... They are all dead. And Vergil ...", she sobbed again but there were no tears left.

"Well, the hunter demon destroyed my trailer. Guess you saw that, right? Anyway, we have no where to stay unless you are able to sleep in that building again." He didn't want to urge her but they had only very limited options.

"You don't have to stay with me. You didn't even want to join The Order in the first place."

"I have nothing else to do and no where else to stay at. Guess you'll have to get along with me a little bit longer. Sorry for that." He smiled at her and she nodded. For a moment it seemed she had caught herself but then she just came back to the topic that hurt her most.

"Do you think Vergil will be -"

"No", Dante cut her off. "He won't be there. After the SWAT team charged in Vergil and you deleted everything that would have been a threat in Mundus' hands and destroyed the computers. There is nothing left for him." Better he stopped her from hoping such things. Getting disappointed would only make her feel worse.

"Nothing but memories", she whispered and finally started walking. Dante didn't tell her, that Vergil wasn't the kind for dwelling in memories. In fact Vergil didn't even say good bye to her. He called her a subject and ignored all what she had done for him and The Order. She had been useful. And that was all. At least Dante could say that Vergil had admitted brotherly feelings to him. Kat had no such luck. It seemed she wasn't even a friend to him. One day she'll realize that and Dante hoped, that she would be strong enough to get over it.

The silence between them wasn't comfortable. The demon hunter thought that he had to give Kat some time to sort out her feelings. It was about her situation, the place where they were going to stay at and such things. For him it was easy enough to put an end to what had happened. He was back to normal more or less. A few demons crossed their way but they were no challenge. People were hiding inside their homes, communicating via telephone and Internet, watching the chaos outside through TV and their windows. The streets were mostly deserted. Dante watched the concrete carefully but it was nothing like Limbo. No sudden abysses would appear and no walls would drew together. This city was lifeless - but reliable. A lot of debris lay around as well as garbage. Whenever he found a Virility can Dante kicked it far away. _Special ingredients - yeah, for sure._

The sun was setting as the two of them reached the headquarters of The Order. Kat run inside and Dante followed just in case that some demons got lost in those many rooms. No one was here but the corpses of more _useful _humans. There was a sting to that word that went deeper the more often Dante thought about it. He stopped for a moment considering what to do about all those bodies. The steps of Kat's sneakers became quieter soon and he moved again. He found the medium standing in front of the puddle of her own blood. It had dried by now.

"I had been worried, you know?", Dante quietly addressed her. He didn't like the way she stared down at the stained concrete.

"How did he react?"

Dante hesitated. "Don't torture yourself by those thoughts." But that was enough of an answer for her it seemed. She turned around and left the building.

"We should bury them", the demon hunter suggested. "I don't think anyone else will care now. You could call their families or something." He wanted her to do something but sitting around and suffer over the next days. "No need to hurry though. They won't run away", he added as Kat didn't react. She led him to a nearby apartment block that looked as shabby as the HQ. Graffiti colored the walls and showed dark images and cryptic signs. It reminded him of the playground where Vergil had told him their shared past. Dante intended to ask Kat about the meaning of the graffiti but she had already entered the building. A strange feeling of loneliness crept up while he climbed the stairs. There was no sound to be heard and no human to be seen all the way up. Were all of them dead, too? Or were they just hiding? At the very top stood a door open.

"Kat?", Dante asked into the semi darkness of the flat. He tried the light switch but nothing happened. Some demons probably cut electricity. Or the power station got destroyed through one of Mundus' outbursts.

"I'm here", she quietly answered and came out of a room. "This is the place. You can see HQ from here. It was important to Vergil to have a close eye on it."

"That you have a clear view at the Silver Sacks Towers had not been intended, hm?", Dante asked while looking through the window of the room next to him. The room had no door and seemed very inviting. The demon hunter stepped closer. The skyscrapers' dark silhouettes in front of the dark red sky still seemed menacing. He could also see the tower of Raptor News Network and the facility of Virility. This block happened to be a very suitable strategic point.

"Why is this room empty?", Dante asked as Kat stepped up next to him.

"We had no use for it. George, one of ... He had always wanted to get us a door for this room so we could use it as another sleeping room. Vergil didn't want it."

"Who lived in here? On this floor, I mean."

"Just Vergil and I. My room is opposite of the entrance. The room next to this one was Vergil's. The kitchen is two doors away from my room on the right side. The bathroom is opposite of this one. The room next to mine was his working office. That's all for this apartment. Some of the other members lived on the other floors."

"What did he need a working office for? HQ is just on the other side of the street."

"I have never been in there."

Curious about the room Dante tore his gaze off the window. He tried to open the door the normal way but it wouldn't bulge. So he kicked it in, making Kat flinch. The room was dark and empty. There were no windows nor lights.

"Have you seen him going in here?"

"No", she answered and peeked over his shoulder. "Doesn't look like he actually used this room."

"Let's get some rest. I'll take Vergil's room, hoping he actually used that one ... Well, it's not like I never slept on the floor before."

Kat retreated to her own room. Dante listened to sounds coming from her while he opened the door to his new realm. He would stay here for some time he guessed. Fortunately he could get comfortable everywhere. He was lucky, too. It seemed like Vergil had used this room for it had a bed and some wardrobes. The room looked somewhat empty though. Without further thinking the demon hunter let himself fall onto the bed and passed out almost immediately. This had been quite an exhausting and painful day.

A scream echoed through the flat around 1 pm. the next day. Dante had unintentionally found the mirror in Vergil's room and was now staring unbelievingly at his own reflection.

"What the fuck! H... How did that happen?" He carefully touched the silvery strands. They felt normal. Maybe he should wash his hair? It hadn't been a while since he had a chance to care about such things after all.

"It's from your Devil Trigger." Dante swirled around to see Kat standing at the door to his room. She didn't look like she had slept enough but right at the moment the Nephilim couldn't care less.

"What ... and how?", he stared back at the mirror which showed something he actually was a bit familiar with. He remembered the moment at the Bellevue Pier when that white something landed on his head and he had said "_Not in a million years_". And yet here he was with his hair as white as snow.

"I look like I'm what? A thousand years old?"

"Vergil has silver hair, too. It doesn't suit you bad. You had a white strand at the back of your head when you came back from Raptor News. They turned completely white when you fought Vergil but only after you turned into that mad thing that would've killed its brother. Vergil called this transformation _Devil Trigger_." There was a slight accusing tone in her voice when she spoke about that fight but still Dante didn't care much. He had to admit that there was indeed not much left that differed him from his brother now. At least not in outward appearance.

"Are you kidding me? Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"Would it have changed anything?"

"You know, people use to say something when someone's appearance changes. That's what I got used to." Well, that was what he had gotten used to ignore in fact. He only listened to such things when the women in bed would praise him. But if someone's hair just turns white all of a sudden even he would've said a thing.

"You shouldn't worry too much about it. You can't change it anyway, I guess. Maybe this is your natural hair color."

"I was born with black hair." Well, it was not like someone had shown him a mirror then and even if they did he wouldn't remember but he had been black haired since he _could_ remember and that was a long time. Then again his memories started when he was seven. Everything before was blurred and incomplete. He didn't need anymore flashbacks though. It hurt to remember a time when everything had been alright, when he had had a family and played with his brother. At the same time he longed to know more. He missed that time although it barely felt like it was him who had experienced those things.

"I don't look like myself anymore." Those words seemed to come from far away. There was a resignation in them that Dante usually only thought and never spoke. He knew it meant he needed a drink. Without a second thought he smashed the mirror and turned to leave - but Kat stood her ground at the door. She lifted up a hand to carefully touch his face.

"It's okay. It's just your hair", she tried. He knew she meant to comfort him but he didn't need it. He needed something that would remind him of his life before The Order.

"Yeah, I know. It's fine. I need a walk. I'll be back soon."

"Don't leave now. We wanted to bury the bodies, remember? Please let's get it over with." She was pleading again and he was giving in again. He had never buried anyone - not even his mother for Sparda brought him away before he could. And now he was burying people he didn't even know. It should have been Vergil, not him, doing this. On the other hand they had been useful to him, too. He only arrived when most of the work had been done. They had located the demons and found their way through firewalls and whatever else was protecting Mundus and his "friends". All that had been left to do for the demon hunter was to go in there and kick some asses. He had gotten his revenge even though that had not been the main reason. Or had it been? He couldn't tell for sure. It was easy enough to say it had been for the freedom of mankind but he had felt better after Mundus' defeat. And that relief went deeper than his caring for the human world who had doomed him to life like an outsider.

Dante's abilities helped to get things done much quicker than normal but it had gotten dark when they finished anyway. The place was quite far away from HQ for most of the ground of this town was concreted. But it was a good place. There were a few trees and only some lesser demons around. The bodies should be safe here - at least as safe as a dead body needed to be. Kat had fallen into silence right when they started. It didn't change when they had finished. She walked back to her room and locked it. Dante guessed that most of the dead people had been friends of hers. He wouldn't have minded but the silence gave him time for thinking as well. And that was something he didn't need. All the topics he already had thought about came up again, no matter how much he tried to avoid them. So as Kat adjourned to her room he was kind of depressed, too. He took a quick shower and then got back to downtown. There were people on the damaged streets now. Most of them were armed with guns. Under normal circumstances they didn't use to pay attention to him but Dante immediately noticed that they did. He watched a mother getting her daughter inside the next building the moment she spotted him. It reminded him of a bad horror movie and it wasn't hard to guess who was the insane killer here. A bunch of teenagers shouted insults at him. He gave them the finger and received an empty Virility can thrown at his head. Of course he caught it. The can easily gave in to the pressure of his grip while he walked away, only imaging how he'd smash the can onto a human head. Just a street further he had a group of policemen in his way. They addressed him as terrorist. Apparently they still had the voice of Bob Barbas in their heads. _Just doing god's work - fuck you_. The night hadn't even started yet so he decided to escape them instead of getting brought to prison. In the end he found himself in a shabby alley right in front of a night club. That was much better.

"Even terrorists need love", he mumbled to himself. The bouncer didn't think so. Since he wasn't human Dante shot the bastard. Didn't they notice that everybody could see their true nature now? Their skeleton like appearance would seem unhealthy even to the worlds biggest idiot, the sickle was some kind of an added hint. The demon hunter wasn't surprised to only find demons inside after this. What a pity.

About sunrise Dante had finished his tour to all night clubs he could find. Surprisingly enough he had found some human dancers, too. They wouldn't go with him but at least he had a little fun in the clubs. And now he knew where he could spend the following nights.

And he was drunken now, too. Kat wasn't pleased to see him this way. She sat at the kitchen table drinking some coffee when he stumbled into the flat. He intended to just look how she was but he better had went straight into his room. She said something he couldn't focus on. He leaned heavily against the door frame feeling dizzy and tired. It all didn't matter to him until he thought he heard that damn name of his brother.

"Vergil certainly never got drunk", he muttered. At least he wanted to say that but the way Kat looked at him implied she didn't understand a word. It made him angry. No one ever understood him and, whatever she had said, he was a grown up man who could make his own decisions. If he wanted to get drunk he would get drunk. If he wanted to get laid he would get laid. And fuck everyone who wanted to stop him. Kat was speaking again. Her voice was loud and had that tone Dante associated with anger. He turned his back to her and went into his room where he got another dreamless sleep.

The next day started even later than the day before. With his head still hurting the demon hunter left his room. He couldn't find Kat anywhere so he went to the door-less room's window. There she was on the other side of the street spraying something at the former HQs wall. He was somewhat relieved that she wasn't walking around the town but his heart sunk as he noticed the picture. She sprayed a black cross like burying The Order symbolically.

When she came back he intended to greet her but the moment she saw him she made a disgusted face and waved a hand to stop him before he could say anything. Then she locked herself into her room.

"Kat?", he asked knocking at her door. She didn't answer. He thought he heard her sob but he wasn't sure. Maybe she had realized that he was nothing like Vergil. He couldn't blame her if she didn't want him around anymore. Since his head was still aching he decided to take another nap. The night had taken its toll. It was dark again when he woke up. Kat would probably be asleep. He didn't want to disturb her. Minutes passed while he contemplated what he should do. He ended up with the only possible option: make yourself useful and kill some demons. From here on everything went like the day before. The people thought he had brought the demons to their world for he was the terrorists the news had spoken of. But if you thought they would avoid him you were dead wrong. Some of them did but most of them insulted him, threw trash at him, spit out in his direction when he passed them, they pointed at him, called the police or just shot at him themselves. This was worse than his life before. Women tend to love bad asses so it had been fun to be public enemy number one. He hadn't cared about some hunter demons and bad news about him. The people had avoided or ignored him but they didn't mind him much. Now they had to deal with demons and that made them aggressive. Dante could understand it but it was no fun though. He could scream at them that this was not his fault but they wouldn't listen. And, to tell the truth, it was his fault. Limbo only stopped existing because he had lured Mundus out of his office so that Vergil could close the hell gate to make the demon mortal. They killed Mundus but at what price? Mankind was free but families still lost members to demons. The only difference was that they could now see who killed them. How stupid had he been thinking he alone could protect mankind? He fought. He battled the city's demons for hours but there was no end to their masses. And people still hated him. So when he needed a break he visited the clubs again to find a woman who would stay with him for a while. That had gotten much more difficult than before as well. And so he got drunk again. Life seemed so much easier in this state. At least until he would wake up in the flat just to find Kat avoiding him again. He couldn't remember if she had seen him coming home and if they had argued or not. She wouldn't speak to him, punishing him with ignorance. He promised himself to stay sober this day and night when he went out for the endless fight against demons. But it happened again just like the days before.

Days passed with the same routine. He wouldn't see Kat at the flat anymore but he knew she was there for he would find his clothes cleaned sometimes. In the end of the day he was badly drunken once more. Deep inside he knew Kat would be disappointed to see him like this again. That was why he didn't use to hurry to get back. And that must have been the reason why he entered another club although he had been on his way "home". Just a short glimpse if there were demons to fight, he promised himself.

It was dark inside except for a few pinkish lights. The smell of cigarette smoke was in the air which pulsed in the rhythm of electronic music.

"Jackpot", Dante muttered. Right in front of his eyes was a being that was unnaturally beautiful. She moved around a pole in a way that convinced the Nephilim that he could stay here for a little while longer. She wasn't human though. He could feel it as much as he saw her red gleaming eyes and those bat- like wings. He had never seen a beautiful demon before - well, except himself but he had that angel part in his genes. He sat heavily down on a chair close to the stage. There were other demons around. Most of them looked disgusting and tried to get themselves a mate it seemed. They climbed the stage but got kicked down soon after. She could definitely kick in the most elegant ways the demon hunter had ever seen. Her movements were electrifying. A moment later the door to the club opened and two men came in. Two other beautiful demons were with them. Either Dante had found the HQ of some very nice demons or this was the net of a spider. Even in his drunken state he couldn't just let the men get killed but right as he decided to stand up the demons left them alone. The guys went to the bar and stayed there for a while apparently not taking notice of the other demons around. None of these tried to play the barkeeper though as long as Dante's eyes were fixed on the guests. His concentration was suddenly disturbed by the feeling of a weight on his lap. There she was. The most gorgeous dancer sat on his thighs. Had he thought his luck with women was running out? Maybe he should try a demon then. He couldn't bring himself to care about the humans anymore.

What happened now was just a blur but when he woke up his head ached and his throat was dry. And, what was most irritating, he was fully clothed. Dizzily he blinked around. The room was illuminated by sunlight that fell through the only window. Of course Dante was facing it. The light made his head feel like it would explode. He couldn't turn away for he found his wrists and ankles strapped. So this place was the net of a spider after all.

"You got yourself into nice trouble", someone said. The voice came from something that looked like a cocoon.

"That's a talent", Dante replied, "Do I know you?"

The cocoon moved. It made a disgusting, wet sound. Then the voice spoke up again: "We met -"

A door opened. One of the female demons came in. The cocoon made a "Shh" sound. Carefully Dante watched the demon. She smiled at him and caused an emotion that had gotten him into this situation in the first place.

"Who are you?", he asked, trying to get her attention. But that was fully given to someone else. It was one of the men Dante had seen the night before. And he was bound as well. She kissed him for a long while before she turned to the demon hunter.

"Who allowed you to speak?", she demanded in a strict manner. It was not intimidating but rather challenging.

She came closer but before she could reach him the cocoon called out: "Don't let her touch you! She'll drain your energy!"

In a matter of seconds the demon found herself helplessly floating in the air. Dante had freed himself using the power of his devil trigger. He took a moment to contemplate what to do with her but the demon inside him was now urging. It was hungry for death like it had been when Rebellion was pushed deeper and deeper through Vergil's chest days ago. The feeling was frightening. Until that moment Dante had thought he was in control but now he knew it better. He wanted to fight back but he found no reason to, except for his own fear. There was just a demon and what else should he do with her? Just before his devilish energy was used up he cut her into two halves with Rebellion.

"What happened?", the cocoon asked. Dante cut it open carefully and out fell Pheneas.


	2. A new plan

A/N: First of all I'd like to thank purpleshinigami for the review (and for following Perspective). It means really much to me. Then I want to thank The Grim Reeper and naruino4eva for following/ favouring the story. And of course thanks to everyone else who read the first chapter. I hope all of you nice people will enjoy this as much.

Status: not beta-ed again (still sorry, I hope you enjoy though); part 2 of 5  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of DmC.

**2. A new plan**

The other guy from the night before screamed in fear. Dante couldn't blame him so he ignored him.

"Lost your eye again, hm?", he addressed the old demon.

"The succubus stole it. I'm just too old to fight." Phineas sat up and wiped some slimy, green stuff from his robe. Although Dante had seen him before that missing part of his head still looked somewhat unsettling.

"I've met a succubus before and she looked very different to the demons around here."

"Demons change their appearance with age. Just like human beings. I had been better looking when I was young, too." Phineas tried to get up so Dante lend him a hand. "She also took my staff."

"What are you doing here anyway? Aren't you a little old for this?"

"They brought me here. I had been close to the prison when Limbo collapsed. You defeated Mundus, I guess."

Dante quickly replaced prison by 'Raptor News tower' since that was probably what the old demon meant. "Yeah, like I told you I would."

"And who took his place?"

"No one. It's just me killing some demons. No one rules mankind."

"Someone will try to soon enough. Would you be so kind to get me back my eye again? And my staff. I'm sure I can return the favor."

"Do your abilities work in the human world?"

"Are you missing a bridge or something? No, the things I showed you won't work here. But I'm an old demon. I have a few other options."

"Anyway, I'll help you. You're a good guy - for a demon."

"Can you make that noise stop, too? It's giving me a headache." Although Dante knew Phineas couldn't see a thing the old demon looked right at the man who was still making anxious sounds. His partner was unconscious since the succubus had kissed him, he had seen a guy cutting a woman in midair and that guy was now talking with a creature which missed about one quarter of its head.

"Be nice. He's just afraid." Dante laid a hand on Phineas shoulder to turn him away from the guy. "I'll get you your stuff. Just sit down and wait here. Don't give me a reason to kill you." When he lifted his hand some of that slime clung to it. That was just disgusting. He tried to get rid of it by waving his hand forcefully but that stuff was worse than glue. At least Phineas did sit down. "Good, I'll be back in a second."

This place was a labyrinth. The demon hunter walked through the floors and rooms for about 15 minutes until he started to use his demon power, namely Eryx, to break holes into the walls. He made his way much quicker then. After a short while he had found the stage and his personal nemesis. Nothing had changed since he had arrived here. She was still dancing and there were still other demons trying to climb up to her. They even had new human guests. Nothing gave a hint that it was bright day. Maybe the men didn't even notice the time. They were caught like he had been, not caring about anything anymore. That changed when bullets broke their glasses and some close bottles. Splinters of glass flew around their heads. That did the trick. Frightened they jumped up from their chairs and ran outside.

"Good job, girls", Dante praised Ebony and Ivory. He kept them in his hands ready to shoot anything that approached him. But no demon did. Like the evening before they seemed to know what he was thinking and just didn't do a thing. He holstered his guns. Then slowly the dancer turned around to face him. She was lean and pale, had long, curled black hair, full red lips and those blood red eyes. And she radiated sex. Dante couldn't deny her female attributes but it was more. Something was in the air. The temperature rose. Was it just in his mind? He felt dizzy and weakened. She approached him in that irritating slow, hips swaying way. He did a step backwards but hit the door with his back. Who had closed that fucking door? She reached out a hand with long, thin fingers. She wore blood red nail polish. And she smiled a perfect white teethed smile. Dante knew he couldn't let her touch him but he couldn't recall a way to avoid it. In the back of his head he remembered that once he had weapons but the memory was all so weak. He felt helpless and drawn towards her as if the walls were closing in. Then he saw something. The demon dominated his mind but behind her was another succubus holding a mechanic thing that reminded the demon hunter at something. It was almost golden and looked like crafted in the renaissance by da Vinci or some other guy with too much time and fantasy. Phineas' eye. It was something he could concentrate on. All of a sudden the room got back to its normal size, the temperature fell and the demon was still few feet away. Quickly Dante drew Rebellion and held it in front of himself like a shield.

"Come closer and I'll cut you a new hair style, love", he challenged. Something changed again. A moment ago the female demon had looked self conscious and dominating. Now she seemed smaller and much more frail. The look on her face was pleading, almost suffering. The other demons stepped up closer to her, reached out for her trying to draw her in. She screamed like in agony and hold out her hands to him. Dante knew she was playing with his mind but the urge to help was almost suffocating. Don't touch her, he repeated silently to himself, don't touch her. The claws of the demons left red marks on her pale skin. Was she bleeding? They surrounded her, he could barely see her anymore but he heard her screams. That was more than he could endure. He rushed forward parting the crowd with his sword which turned into an axe and a sickle on his will. The demons fell and disappeared. Some of the female ones tried to hide behind the bar looking as terrified as the dancer who laid on the floor writhing. Blood was all over her wonderful features. Her wings were torn. Again she reached out for him and this time he took her hand into his. Suddenly he fell to his knees. His sight was blurred, he could barely see a thing. He lost his hold of Rebellion. The sword fell to the ground with a loud, metallic sound. Dante tried to hold his head but he needed to steady himself with one hand on the ground. And the other was still in the grip of the demon who was standing in front of him now. She looked down at this kneeling man and became her former confident self. There was no blood anymore, no marks. Dante tried to free his hand but he couldn't. She felt so strong and her skin so cold.

"So this is a Nephilim", he heard her saying with a voice so clear and soft. She knelt down in front of him and lifted his chin with her free hand. Dante's vision blacked out but he was still conscious enough to keep himself in place. "You're strong but you're not the one who defeated Mundus, are you?" That cut deep into his pride. It had been him. Vergil had helped but most of the work had been done by him. Then again, the all mighty slayer of Mundus probably wouldn't have fallen for her tricks. Damn, he had known that touching her was a bad idea.

"Fuck off, bitch", he growled but that was all Dante could do. A feeling like oncoming sleep rose in his head. She had both of her hands on him, draining him while he was defenseless and blind. He cursed himself. He had been warned.

A sudden sound disturbed the demons and woke Dante's attention. Had that been a door? He heard some feet moving and felt the grip the demon had on him weaken. With all strength he had left he pushed himself away from her. He fell onto his back but his vision became clear. It was still exhausting but he could force himself to sit up. She was watching him. Her red eyes locked with his.

"You're such a fighter", she praised, purring like a cat when she reached out for him again. His hand found Rebellion and with one single movement that cost a lot of strength he cut off hers. She screamed and jumped up to her feet. The other demons let go of the victim that had accidentally helped Dante to get away. The man fell to the ground. The demons seemed unsure of what to do while their leader screamed in pain and wrath. Dante fought to get to his feet, leaning heavily on Rebellion. The next moment their eyes locked he could feel she was trying something on him again. But this time he just cut her head off. He fell forward due to the weight of his sword and landed on the still writhing body of the succubus. It had no effect on him anymore. That was good news. But bad news were aiming right at him in the form of a few pissed female demons. He rolled out of their way and drew Ebony and Ivory. A shower of bullets rained onto the demons. The guns didn't deal a lot of damage but they kept them from coming closer. The demon hunter got up to his feet and did some steps backward to enlarge the distance. He was already smiling again when he mobilized his angelic power and drew Aquila. When he threw the two blue glowing weapons they multiplied and hit the demons hard but from safe distance. They spun and cut their ways through their bodies quickly coming back to Dante like boomerangs with three knifes. In a matter of minutes the room was empty but for the unconscious man and the Nephilim.

"What a party", he exhaled. Phineas' eye laid behind the bar seeming undamaged. But his staff was nowhere to be seen.

When Dante came back Phineas was still sitting where he had been left. The human man had calmed down and hung loosely in his bonds. Dante freed him and his unconscious friend before he gave the eye to the demon. The guy picked up the other man and hastily got out of the room.

"I couldn't find your staff. Are you sure you lost it to them?", Dante asked stretching his hurting muscles. Hell, he had lost most of his power. He needed to rest.

"I didn't see who took it away from me. But it's not important. I can get another one somewhere." That was something Phineas couldn't say about his eye. The thing made some mechanic sounds as it was set into place again.

"You're okay now?"

"Yes, I'm fine. It's good to see."

Dante could only agree. Being blind was an experience he wouldn't like to make again. "We should get out of here."

"Yes, yes, but wait a minute." The wrinkled demon did something with his eye until it glowed green at first, then yellow. "Ah, I see. There are two Nephilim. And your brother greatly disappointed you, didn't he?"

Dante's eyes narrowed. "Maybe. Is that what you see?"

"You fought and won and then he left. He'll try again, don't you think?"

"Try what?"

"To fight you and rule the world." The light faded and then was gone completely. The room seemed darker without it.

"I'll beat him again. Let's just go now", the demon hunter urged.

"I'll return the favor", Phineas promised again.

"Sure, whatever."

Along the way back to Kat Dante repeatedly had the feeling that Phineas who followed him with a bit distance wandered off. But he would always reappear after a while. When he entered the block the demon was gone again what made Dante feel a bit betrayed. Although he knew the old guy would come back soon he wanted him by his side when meeting Kat. He had no such luck.

"What are you doing?", he asked as he found her leaning over his bed.

"Cleaning", she simply answered without even looking at him.

He leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms in front of his chest while watching her. "Well, thank you ... We'll have a visitor." There was just no other way he could tell her for she apparently still didn't want to speak with him. So he just blurted it out. That made her turn to him. It was the first time in days they made eye contact.

"What?", she demanded.

"He's a demon but -"

"Are you crazy! Don't tell me you're making friends with demons now. You're so ... so ..." She shook her head. Her body was tense. Dante guessed that she would have thrown something at him but all she held in her hands was a cushion. She wouldn't throw it. It was too soft.

"It's not what you think", he tried but in fact it was exactly that. He had made friends with a demon somehow. "He owes me a favor so I'll keep him close until I know what to do with it."

"You keep a demon close?"

"Kat, please. He's not a bad guy. I swear he won't harm you."

"You know what? You Nephilim are all crazy! You think you're better than mankind and that makes you think you can rule us or make friends with the demons that kill us thinking that we wouldn't mind. No matter how reasonable you think your doing is, it's sick!" She screamed at him in rage while her nails dug deep into the pillow. She had never screamed at Vergil. Dante felt slightly insulted. "You think you can live like a king, getting drunk and laid while I'm keeping your clothes and bed clean and try to find people to support us fighting against demons but that is over now! I'll leave!" But to do that she had to pass him and he was determined to keep her back although he didn't know what to say.

"What a tiny place", a voice said. It came from the kitchen. Kat immediately froze, her eyes wide with fear.

"Just wait here, okay? I'm back in a second." He was afraid she would indeed leave. His senses were on high alert when he quickly made his way to the kitchen, grasped Phineas by the arm and dragged him over to the door of his room. Kat hadn't moved.

"Well, this is Phineas. Scholar, inventor, prophet -"

"Demon", Kat spat.

"And he had been a prisoner of Mundus until I got him out. And he's not saying a word right now", Dante cut in before the demon could get the two of them deeper into trouble. "He has some useful abilities. He can help."

"I -", the demon started.

"Just shut up", Dante stopped him again. He watched Kat carefully. She was thinking, contemplating. "He knew my father", he swiftly added.

"I guess most demons did", she retorted.

"He knew my mother, too."

She hesitated. The hold onto the pillow loosened.

"I can help you to find Vergil", Phineas said as the Nephilim was distracted. Dante stared down at the old demon, cursing himself for his lack of attention. That was exactly the name he had avoided to say for days now - to his own sake and for Kat's. But Phineas didn't seem to notice the sudden change in the atmosphere. "I know you want to find him. When I am where he had been I can show you what he did and maybe where he went."

"What?" Dante asked unbelievingly. Did that even make sense or was the guy more senile than he had thought?

"You know where he is?" Kat's voice was quiet, careful as if she thought the hope would disappear if she knew too much. But did she really hope to find him? Why? After all he had done to her - or not done ... Who was the one who got insane now?

"I don't, but I can help you find out."

"And all of that for an eye?" Dante asked. Did the old guy think he could fool them?

"Not at all. I'd love to get some paper and a pen, too."

"I don't believe it. You just called _me_ crazy? Why should we look for him? He - does not - deserve it", Dante tried to convince Kat putting emphasis to the last sentence. Phineas decided to stay in Vergil's "office room" for he didn't need any light. His eye illuminated what he wanted to see. He had been satisfied after Kat had found some paper and pens in the drawers of Vergil's room. God knew what he needed that for. At least it gave Kat and Dante time to talk.

"Don't you miss him? He's your brother after all", she tried to argue.

"Yeah, guess that's supposed to be my part but why do _you_ want to search for him?"

"He helped me, guided me to the right way. We should do that for him now. We have to."

Dante ran a hand through his white hair. Good that he couldn't go gray. He knew what he felt. It didn't help that Kat sounded somewhat reasonable. Could they really convince Vergil that he was wrong? That he needed to change his opinion? Even the fight had not helped and it was the most convincing way Dante knew to change someones mind. How much further could they get with talking?

"You'll get disappointed again. Don't you remember what he said?", he asked.

"Just ... let us try."

"Just let us sleep. We'll see what we think tomorrow." God, he was tired. But she didn't want to give up. For some reason she kept thinking Vergil would change.

"I thought about it while you drowned yourself in alcohol and women. I slept over it for several nights. I don't want to give him up. If he died now, wouldn't you feel sorry for not being there?"

Although he couldn't tell why, that stabbed right through his heart. Dante shot her a glare but she didn't take it back. "He can't be killed. He's like me."

"You almost killed him."

"And nobody else will. Go now. Get some sleep." This just wasn't right. He wasn't himself anymore. The succubus had weakened him. He should have known that he couldn't argue with Kat in this state. Why did she need to make such a drama anyway? Why couldn't she just let go of Vergil? And why the hell did Phineas need to bring that topic up? He shouldn't have helped him again. That guy was a demon after all. Maybe he could twist ones mind like the succubus did.

After Kat had finally left his room Dante laid down onto the bed. What would he do if Vergil got himself killed? He wouldn't get to know, would he?

"Fuck you, Vergil", he grumbled into the sheets. Hell, he needed a drink. And distraction. At least he got another sleepless night.

Kat knocked at his door forcefully. For a moment Dante thought she would actually be capable of breaking it. Then there was silence again. A moment later he heard her talking to Phineas. It seemed they got along with each other. He closed his eyes again. Soon he noticed that his calm sleep was over. He saw memories or dreams. He had no part in them for he could only watch. When he next opened his eyes he couldn't remember what he had seen but he felt exhausted and anxious. He sat on his bed. Why was he naked? He could not recall that he had undressed. The door was open. What happened? Did someone break in? Did Phineas attack Kat? Worried he got up and immediately rushed to the door.

"Kat? Where are you?", he called into the floor.

"I'm over here. No need to scream", she answered from the kitchen. He went over to her. The sight relieved him. She sat at the table, drinking some coffee, eating a sandwich and had apparently been talking to Phineas who sat across from her. She lifted an eyebrow as she saw him. "How do you feel?"

"What? Good ... I'm fine. Why had someone been in my room?"

"Because you wouldn't wake up for days although you were talking."

"What? How long?"

She looked to Phineas like she had lost count. "About a week", she then said.

"You're kidding me."

"The succubus touched you, didn't she?", the old demon asked. "She must have touched you for a long time for you are Nephilim."

"Don't know. Maybe it was a minute or so."

"I told you not to let her touch you. Demons so young and strong like her can kill just by setting a hand on your shoulder."

"She's dead. What happened when I was out?"

"You should get dressed", Kat reminded him. She had seen him naked before and just like then she pretended she wouldn't see anything but with time she seemed to feel uneasy. "I washed your clothes but you should probably get a shower."

Dante did as he was told, all the time wondering how that female demon could have had such influence. Nothing could usually knock him out like that. He was not human after all.

"You had nightmares. You wanna talk about them?", Kat asked right when he entered the kitchen.

"You said I spoke in my dream."

"You were mumbling. I couldn't understand a word. But you were moving around and sweating. So, what did you dream?"

"Don't remember. Guess I dreamt about some really hot and rough sex." He grinned at her and she averted her eyes. "So what happened while I had my very intimate party?"

"We made a plan how to find Vergil."

Dante groaned and leaned back on his chair. "Get him out of your head already."

"I don't need you. Phineas and I started to look for him alone."

"You did what? And you survived it?" The day was already getting better and better. Angrily he looked at the demon. "You owe me not her. Why did you do that?"

"You want to find him, too", Phineas said. He sounded convinced like Dante had actually told him that.

"No, I don't. If I said such a thing you should remember that I was out cold. I certainly didn't mean what I said."

"You dreamt about Vergil?", Kat concluded.

"No! I don't remember what I dreamt. It doesn't matter anyway." Stay calm, he told himself. That woman just wanted to drive him crazy. And she was collaborating with that ancient demon. "Do we have something to drink? I need a beer or something."

"You don't think about getting drunk again, do you?" She looked at him in a way that made him feel guilty. That was strange because he had never cared about what others thought about his habits.

"Give me a drink, sex or a fight. I need a release or I'll smash that table and lock you in here until you forget about my brother."

She smiled. That was strange, too. Dante recalled what he had just said but he couldn't find anything that would make someone smile.

"Anyway", Phineas interfered, irritating the Nephilim even more, "we went over to the prison but a powerful demon lives in there now. We couldn't get further inside."

"Vergil's not there unless you mean him by 'powerful demon'."

"We know that. But Phineas can make a place remember. If Vergil was there and spend some time there Phineas can show us what he did and what he said. It's our only chance to find out where he went."

"Time is a matter of perspective, too. At least it is for me", the demon added to Kat's explanation.

"We need to get further into the tower. They had computers there and all information Mundus had collected. Maybe Vergil wanted to use them." The more she said the more excited she got. It made Dante sick.

"What for?", he asked.

"I don't know. But it's my best guess."

"Okay, let's make a deal: I'll get you inside that tower. And if you don't find anything you'll stop searching for him."

"Deal."


	3. Nephilim

A/N: First of all, thank you very much for the reviews, justaguest, purpleshinigami and Lollipop. Second, thank you a lot for agreeing to betaing my texts, purpleshinigami. Third, thanks to Cosmic Sky, DarkCarolineRiddle, KimikoSenpai94, The Grim Reeper, purpleshinigami (the list becomes longer ^^) for following. And special thanks to Dropout bear9 for favouring the story since the last chapter. Last but not least, a lot of thanks for everyone who's reading Perspective.

Status: not beta-ed again (I'm hoping that the next chapter will be betaed.); part 3 of 6 (I splitted the next chapter because of it's length)  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of DmC.

**3. Nephilim**

Dante stood at the circle Kat had sprayed the last time they had been here with Vergil. He remembered the feeling of the bridge's concrete turning into thin air and the pain of crashing onto something that was supposed to be nothing more than a reflection on water surface.

"Do you think the tower looks like the one in Limbo?", Kat asked. She stood at the parapet looking off towards the tower. The sky was as gray as the hood she was trying to hide her face under. Dante guessed she had made some unpleasant experiences during the recent days. Or maybe it just made her feel safer.

"I guess so. It looks further away though. Are you sure you want to come with us?", he addressed Phineas.

"It's no longer a prison", the demon answered.

"But stay out of my way during the battles - both of you." They had encountered only very few demons up to this point but the hunter had the bad feeling that something big was ahead. When Phineas mentioned a powerful demon he hadn't cared much. Even the harpies had been a problem to the old guy. But now he got a strange feeling. There must be a reason why the demons stayed away from this place.

When they reached the towers entrance they saw a woman kneeling in front of the door. She was crying and threw her fists against it over and over again.

"He still hasn't left?", Kat asked kneeling next to her, "It's okay. This time we'll find him." Apparently she knew her. She urged her to tell her story again to bring Dante up to date.

The hunter didn't watch them, only listened. His eyes were focused on the top of the tower. He couldn't see a thing. The electricity of the building was cut down, too. No light shone through the windows although it was quite dark for this time of day.

The woman told them about her son, Andy, who had run inside the tower for some reason. He hadn't left it for days now. She was afraid he could be dead.

"I'll keep an eye open. Now get out of my way." His voice sounded rough giving a hint to his tensed muscles and dry throat. Whatever demon had kept Kat and Phineas from getting to the towers top, it radiated power. He could feel it from here already. It tickled on his skin and made the hairs in his neck stand on end.

"This demon probably has no body. We never saw it but it blocked our way with locked doors and frightening visions", Kat explained as soon as they were inside. The floor was cold and dark.

"We should have brought a flashlight", Dante remarked.

"We have a Phineas", the medium answered and gestured to the demon who did something with his eye that made it shine in a white light. It was bright enough to illuminate most of the floor. But it created shadows, too. The hunter immediately noticed that something was wrong with the shadows. They seemed to enlarge when he focused on them like the pure black stretched into eternity.

"What do you mean by frightening visions? Some kind of trick?" He had had enough visions lately. Did the crash of Limbo give psychic abilities to all demons?

"You'll see things only you can see. It gets worse the further up you go. It doesn't work so well on demons though. Phineas can go up much higher than I can."

"You should stay here then."

"And trust you to come back saying you found any hints of Vergil? I don't think so", she crossed her arms in front of her chest. When did the trust they had to each other melt? Or had it been limited from the start on her side?

"Whatever. But don't shriek too loud."

They climbed up several stairs without anything happening. The elevator had not opened from begin with so that was the only way to get up. At floor 7 whatsoever were tables and chairs blocking the way.

"There is another staircase on the other side of the tower", Kat said. She was shifting uncomfortably and Dante wondered if she had seen anything and was just holding back her fear.

"What a waste of time", he retorted and drew Arbiter. The red glowing axe crashed into the floor and tore the ground open. The blast send the obstacles into the air. Since it was ordinary wood it broke and gave the way free. Just one floor above their little journey was stopped though. This time it was a wall of complete blackness.

"Do you see what I see?", Dante asked just to be sure if this was a real problem or not.

"We need to go the other staircase", Kat repeated.

"Phineas?"

"This is too much darkness." For a usually helpless doter the demon made a very relaxed impression.

"Okay. Keep some distance in case something appears behind me. Wouldn't like to kill you accidentally." Dante led the way. The light of Phineas' eye was weaker because of the range. It created even more deep shadows. All of a sudden the ground shivered heavily and a part of the ceiling came crushing down.

"Dante?" The hunter heard Kat's voice. She and Phineas were on the other side of the debris.

"I'm fine. How are you?" As dust settled down he saw the extent of the damage. There was no way he could get the concrete out of the way.

"We're fine, too. Can you get to us somehow?"

"I'll find a way. Just stay were you are. I'll have to take a detour. Stay in the light of Phineas' eye." What a pity this wasn't Limbo. That eye would have come in handy now.

"OK, be careful." Dante did a double-take on that. Did she sound worried? One could guess Vergil was out of her mind for now.

"I always am", he lied and stepped back a bit. The crushed down ceiling offered a way to the next floor. He jumped up the debris and ended up in a dark hall. The lights were on but flickering. How could that be? Anyway he could only see where the light was so he followed the path it illuminated for him. It led the way to a locked double door. He kicked it in unceremoniously. The room behind was pitch black but he heard the laughter of a child.

"Andy? You're mother's waiting for you!", Dante called into the black. The kid didn't react but still laughed. He stepped into the hall as far as the light reached. Suddenly the door he had kicked out of its hinges closed behind him and left him in the dark. "Great", the hunter commented. He did a step further into the room when computer monitors flared up. They seemed to hover in the air and showed twisted faces which seemed to look at him. Some of them were screaming, others laughing. They made a deafening noise so that Dante couldn't hear the child anymore. This had been a prison, he remembered. Maybe these were the prisoners he had only seen the shadows of in Limbo? The light of the monitors showed him another way he could follow. He found a staircase in the back of the room. Was the tower this small? Contemplating he looked back at the monitors. The faces were a bit spooky he had to admit. But as long as they stayed confined they would only harm his ears. Just for the fun of it he sent a bullet at the nearest face. The monitor broke into thousand pieces and it became a little bit darker. Apparently there was no danger coming from them so he ignored the others. The stairs only laid up but he needed to get down to rejoin Kat and Phineas. This was the only way though. He couldn't see in the unnatural pitch black of this tower so he had to trust the light. On the next floor was not a single room. He couldn't even see the walls but the ground was dimly illuminated. It was a blood red glimmer like dying embers. The air seemed hotter, too. Because Dante cared about his shoes he concentrated on his demonic side to shield them from the heat. It was easy - too easy. The further he got the more suspicious he became. He was right it seemed since this was a dead end. Just for a try he threw an Enyx fist against the wall. The concrete cracked but bled darkness. Suddenly glaring white light went on blinding the hunter for a moment. He tried to shield his eyes from the light with his arm while he looked around. Rows of fluorescent energy saving lamps had appeared at the ceiling, the red glimmer was gone and a hell lot of doors were now set at the walls. Dante opened one of them as one lamp broke. Behind was a wall of brick stones. He guessed at least one of the doors hid another room with a staircase. This was a huge waste of time but he had no choice but to open every one of them. He opened another door and another light went out. Slowly it was getting darker. Simple math told him that there were more doors than lamps. If opening the doors and the broken lights had something to do with each other he would soon be left in darkness. He had never been afraid of darkness but right now he felt a bit uneasy though. If he couldn't see he couldn't fight. It didn't help much that he was always unlucky with games of chances. Something caught his attention as he was contemplating the doors. The staircase on the other end of the floor was gone. There was another door instead. Since he still had a lot of lights he decided to try this one next. Behind it was a mirror but it did not reflect. Something dark and liquid moved behind the glass.

"Vergil is not worth this", a voice that sounded like his own said. Dante was sure it wasn't him though. He kept his mouth shut and listened but the voice was gone. He gave the mirror a good kick. Behind it was another brick wall but no lamp broke. So not all of the doors brought darkness. Or had he made a hasty judgment? Maybe the light would break no matter how much doors he opened. He tried another door, found another wall and this time another lamp broke. Another door, another wall, another broken lamp. That was no coincidence. The mirror was an important part of the equation. Slowly he went through the floor, listening carefully. The silence was almost painful. He couldn't even hear his own steps.

"He brought us all in danger." There it was! The door to his left side revealed another mirror. Should he break it again? His hand was indeed shaking as he reached out for the glass. That was strange. He wasn't afraid so why was he shivering? Could that be the influence of the demon?

"Fuck your mind control", Dante hissed. The glass was cold to his skin. But the mirror seemed to react to his voice.

"We could die here and he wouldn't care", it said. Dante couldn't disagree. The thing had a point. But it stole his voice and that pissed him off. He leaned in and the glass broke to reveal another wall. How was this game played? He turned and walked the floor once more. Slowly he got the feeling that the demon was playing for time. But why?

"He had never been here", his voice had said before he opened the next door. There was something else - a second voice or at least some higher pitched tone that wasn't unpleasant at all. This mirror seemed different as well. White light pulsed like veins between the dark.

"What are you now?" The hunter asked just to say something so the mirror could react.

"Go back", it said with that same double voice.

"That's part of the plan. Show me a way downstairs." He needed to get to Kat. This tower or demon knew some good tricks. She probably was in greater danger than he had first thought.

KILL - the word showed in the mirror in big, white letters. Out of habit Dante reached for Rebellion and turned around to face any opponents. But there was no one. Row after row of light went out. He felt the urge to move but what could he do? Time seemed to run out now. In less than a minute he would stand in the dark, not seeing anything. Everything could happen then.

"Kill whom?", he screamed at the mirror, hoping that it held the secret of how to proceed. The liquid moved again, the letters disappeared and got replaced by Dante's reflection. Without a second thought the hunter stabbed the heart of clone only to realize that the mirror didn't show him but Vergil. He saw the blue stone of his necklace for a second. The image broke with the glass - into thousand pieces. Behind it was a path of darkness only illuminated by a transparent but weakly gleaming figure. It was a person, a man, and he had one hand squeezed to his chest.

"Vergil, is that you?" No that couldn't be. His brother wasn't here, was he? Although he was not sure what he was seeing Dante placed Rebellion at his back. If necessary he had two powerful fists to fight with, too.

The figure moved but only slowly. If it was a man he was bleeding a lot and therefore couldn't go faster. But this was not real, Dante told himself while he followed, although he saw the blood on the ground. He had experienced that before when the succubus had manipulated him. Whatever demon it was this time, it was probably trying to lure him into a trap. He needed to stay focused but he grew more and more worried though. What was that light? If this was Vergil it must be stopping him from healing. In the very back of his mind the hunter was afraid he actually did deadly damage to his brother this time. This couldn't be real, could it?

"Stairway to heaven, hm?", Dante asked as he saw more stairs illuminated by pale white light leading up a few feet in front of him. The figure fell to its knees and faded away. Slowly the hunter climbed up to the next floor. He cursed the elevator meanwhile to distract himself. The next floor was all dark.

"He's gone now." It was purely his own voice that whispered. It was too quiet and too close for Dante's liking.

"You said he has never been here, remember? Just settle on a version. You're giving me a headache."

"You killed him", the voice said. Frightening visions, Dante told himself. The demon had found the weakness in no time and was now trying to use it to its advantage. It had all went too smooth for it to be real. Vergil couldn't get killed this easily.

"Are we talking about the same person?", the hunter asked.

The figure appeared again standing a few feet away. It was a lot less transparent this time so Dante could make out more details. Who ever this demon was it didn't know Vergil for the person Dante saw now was himself just with a blue- stone- necklace. The hair style and its clothes gave the illusion away. Pure relief rushed through the hunter's veins. But the demon didn't need to know yet.

"What now?", Dante asked slowly lifting a hand to Rebellions hilt.

The figure became smaller it seemed, its features changed. The hunters eyes widened in shock at what he saw. It was the boy, Andy. He was bleeding profusely from his chest. Still there was light around him. It seemed to keep him alive because normally the kid would be dead by now. The injury was deadly and he already lost a lot of blood. This was real. The hunter felt it all too clearly.

"No", Dante breathed. He had forgotten about the child. But how should he have known the demon could do such a thing? He cursed himself. He had heard the boys laughter. He had known the kid was around.

The light got weaker and the room became darker. Something like black liquid surrounded the light, compressed it and shaped it into something that was probably the demon.

"I caught me a Nephilim", the voice laughed. It still sounded like Dante himself. The boy had disappeared behind the thick blackness but a bit of the light still shone through. It was the only light around. Dante couldn't tell where the walls or the ceiling were.

"You're just an ordinary thief, aren't you? I want my voice back and that kid." He drew Rebellion and pointed its tip at the demon.

"I stole your thoughts, too. And your fears. And your memories." The demon laughed again. "And I stole your friends. I became you." The features of the demon shifted again. It now looked like Dante's shadow. Normally it would have been invisible in the dark but the light that had surrounded Andy created a weak gleaming silhouette. "I have a gift for you in return." It held out a hand from which dangled Vergil's necklace. But how could that be if the other Nephilim had never been here? "Come and get it."

Dante pondered his chances. If he attacked would he hurt the child? He changed his stance into defense. He couldn't risk to injure the boy more than he already did.

The demon attacked with an evil kind of Rebellion. Dante dodged and evaded but he couldn't win the fight with that. The demon was fast and wild. Its movements weren't predictable. When the blade touched Dante's clothes or even his skin it would leave a burning red mark. Dante could jump and roll out of its way most of the time and after a while he noticed that the demon became slower, its movements weaker. A smile appeared on the hunters face. He had slept for about a week and was fit and ready to play this game for hours if necessary. Maybe this opponent wasn't as much a problem as he had first thought.

"Are you tired already? Maybe you should take a break", he suggested. The demon roared and attacked again. Dante blocked with Rebellion and pushed the shadow away. It was much weaker now.

"You think you can defeat me?" It roared again. Dozens of TV screens and PC monitors appeared.

"Yup", Dante answered simply. He looked around. "So we got some audience now, perfect. Enjoy the show!" The unsteady light made the room a lot brighter. Dante could now see the ground, the walls and the ceiling. It made him feel more comfortable although the faces in the monitors and screens made a lot of noise. The demon arrowed forward and Dante rolled out of its way in the last second. The shadow hit the wall what made the whole room shiver. One of the TV screens fell down and broke. Its fragments reflected and multiplied the light. The shadow seemed to shrink. The grin on the hunters face grew. He drew Ebony and Ivory and destroyed more screens and monitors and one by one the light became brighter and the demon became smaller. But unlike before the faces turned to demons when they got free. Soon the room was crowded. There were sickles, swords and other weapons everywhere and it was hard to not get hit. As if that wasn't difficult enough Dante had to pay attention to the shadow, too. The boy was still inside of it and he could probably get hurt. The shadow itself didn't care. It still bounced at its prey taking some hits from the other demons accidentally. Dante did his best to protect it while not getting hit himself. And this were still not all the bad news. While he jumped and rolled through the room he saw Kat and Phineas caught in screens. They seemed to be in pain and clutched at the glass from the inside. Luckily the demons didn't attack anything but the demon hunter so his friends were save for the moment. Only very slowly Dante made it to brighten the room now. He had so much things to pay attention to that he could barely focus on destroying the glass around. And he took one blow after another. After a while the shadow didn't attack anymore. It withdrew into a darker part of the room. Now Dante could fight the normal way without avoiding and protecting it. The room got rapidly emptier. In the end it was just the demon and the demon hunter again. Only few screens and monitors were left. The shadow knelt in the last darker corner of the room. It was bleeding light. In one last try to save itself it clung to the human boy inside.

"Kill him if you dare", it challenged as Dante stepped closer.

"You don't know when to give up, do you?"

"The boy is almost dead anyway. Come on, kill me and therefore kill him."

"Shut up" Without even looking at it Dante shot the last PC monitor. The demon which got free this way immediately darted towards him but Dante blew its head off with Ebony. The light was thrown around, reflected by a million pieces of glass. The last bit of shadow died and with it did the demon. The TV screens disappeared giving free their contents. But now they didn't reveal demons but human beings. Well, except for Phineas. All of them were exhausted from their suffering. In the corner of his eye Dante saw Kat sitting a few feet away from him but his main attention got the boy in the corner. He was still alive but still bleeding and pale. Could he survive it?

"I'm sorry, Andy", Dante told the kid, kneeling down next to him. He inspected the wound. Like he had expected Rebellion had cut right through the small chest.

"What a lucky boy this one is to have a Nephilim to protect him", Phineas said and stepped up next to Dante.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Did that fucking demon just try to be ironic?

"Things are not what they seem in a world that contains demons and humans alike." The old demon did something with its eye and it started to gleam orange. "See what I mean?"

The perspective changed. Slowly dimensions moved until it looked no longer that the boy was surrounded by light but hold by it. The light became a shape itself until a woman could be recognized.

"This, my friend, is Assiel. A former prisoner of Mundus and a Nephilim with great potential."

"You said that before", Dante remembered. She had been in the tower in Limbo caught in a stature. Only slowly the light got weaker and revealed more of her features, but it wouldn't fade completely. Dante thought he got a Déja- vue. "I've seen you. I thought you were my mother."

"You only saw what you want to see. You wanted to see your mother. You needed her to find your hidden powers. So I became your mother, encouraged you, told you what you wanted to hear." She said with a soft and very pleasant voice. Dante had heard it before. It was not the voice the stature had used but it was the voice that had told him Vergil had never been here. She had tried to warn and help him. She was the Nephilim the demon had talked about when it said it caught one. She was the light that kept the boy alive and made the demon visible. "It's not making things lesser real. You knew her best, you knew what she would have said if she had a chance to talk to you ever again", she explained.

"But I saw and heard you."

"No", Kat interfered. She had gotten to her feet and came over to see what was happening. "She's kind of a medium just much more powerful. You saw and heard your mother."

He knew she was only trying to soothe him but this was not the time to argue. "What about the boy? Will he survive?"

"Of course he will", Phineas said. "Nephilim are the most powerful beings in this world. Just give her time to recover."

"Alright, we should go and find a way out then. You're sure you'll make it?"

Assiel nodded. She held the boy close to her body like she was still trying to protect him.

There were no more illusions when they followed the exit signs. The tower was just a tower. Here and there some debris blocked the way but the light of the sun shone through the broken windows. People wandered around trying to find a way out themselves. The group had grown into a little crowd when they finally reached the exit. Andy's mother was still waiting for her child. Dante, Kat and Phineas joined her while the other people went their own ways. Assiel took her time but after an hour she appeared in the entrance hall. Andy was standing in front of her but darted towards his mother the moment he saw her. Dante watched him closely but he couldn't make out any injuries. He had to admit that he was impressed.

"So that's the potential Phineas talked about? You can heal even the deadliest wounds?", he asked Assiel. For some reason she seemed to be afraid of leaving the tower so he had to go to her.

"It's my greatest gift", she answered.

"It surely comes in handy these times. So where are you going to stay?"

"I'll stay here. This tower can still be dangerous. And I feel like I shouldn't leave it. You can find me here whenever you need me."

"Former prison now hospital", Dante commented. "I can heal myself but thanks."

"But your friends can't. Send them to me if they need to recover."

"You really want to do that, don't you? Helping people I mean."

"This is what I'm good in. Each of us has special powers and we should use them for the right purpose. I've seen so many suffering souls I couldn't help ..." She sounded sad and somehow older that she looked like. But it was probably hard to look old when you're mainly made of light. It seemed she had gotten a greater angelic than demonic part.

"It was not your fault. You've been a stature. You helped me to find my devil trigger."

"You're still mad at me."

"You can bet on that." He smiled at her nevertheless. He had hoped it had been his mother talking to him and it hurt to know that it had not been Eva. Maybe one day he could see things like Kat and believe that it was his mother speaking through Assiel. He really wanted to. That was when something came to his mind: "But didn't I see her before I met you?"

"I thought she's dead."

"She is."

"Dead people stay dead people or turn into demons."

"She was an angel."

"No doubts, Nephilim. But tell me, have you seen wings in your vision? I'm quite sure I hadn't some. It was a welcomed changed for as stature I had some. And I hated them."

"Well ... no, not in the vision. But I remember her having ... wings ... sometimes ... sometimes they were black, sometimes they were white." Now that he thought about it he noticed that his memories differed when it came to his parents. The painting at their home showed Eva with black wings as well as his memory about the moment when she gave him the necklace. When he remembered her death his memories showed him white wings. At other occurrences he couldn't remember wings at all.

"Your memory is still sketchy. I guess you tried to remember something and I could use that 'blueprint' you developed for yourself. Don't worry, it all will come back in the end. Maybe you're just not ready yet. Oh, I have to show you something."

"Hm?" Dante watched her opening her hands to him. In her palms materialized the necklace he had former taken for Vergil's. Now he saw he had been wrong. Once again he had only seen what he had wanted to see. Assiel's necklace was a bright agate bordered by gold ornaments at a thin golden chain. But he could see why he hadn't noticed the difference earlier. It looked similar. Maybe those trinkets were common gifts around angels. "What I saw in the tower ... Do you know what it meant?" He doubted he really wanted to know but curiosity kills the cat.

"I don't know your story but I guess you're afraid of killing someone you actually care about." The necklace disappeared. Dante wondered why she didn't wear it.

"I almost did", he admitted.

"The experience will stay in your mind. The fear will stay until you find a way to change it to something more pleasant."

"This isn't something that will ever get pleasant."

"Well, you have Phineas. He'll train you to change your perspective. Things are not always what they seem to be."

"I really get tired of that philosophical crap."

"To change your experience you'll have to find that person. Vergil. And this time you better shouldn't try to kill him unless you want to make things worse."

"I'm quite used to psychic traumas. Lost my parents, saw demons when nobody else did and such things. I'll get over it." The last thing he needed was a therapist. At this time Dante felt uncomfortable enough to end the conversation. He told Assiel he would make sure to send her some badly injured demons to heal and then went off to join Phineas.

"You OK? The screens didn't seem so comfortable."

The demon was doing something with his eye again. The light it emitted was unsteady and changing colors. "It was not comfortable", Phineas said.

"So that was the only real thing I saw. How did the demon get you?"

"The woman is afraid of a lot of things. She increased the power of the demon until it overpowered me. It had been a matter of time."

"And what are you doing now?"

"I'm looking out for useful information we might came across in the tower."

"And? What do you see?"

"It seems your brother wasn't here."

"Yeah, Assiel told me that."

"So you'll quit the search?"

"No, I have to undo a bad experience. More than one actually." Just in case Assiel was right. What he had seen, what he had felt and what he had done should never repeat. He didn't want the blood of a human or the blood of his brother at his hands, let alone that of a child.

"A lot of demons use the fear of their opponents to weaken them but only Succubus and very few Nephilim can manipulate your mind in a way that makes you believe everything you feel is true."

"Sounds good."

"It isn't. There are many forms of succubus' and lots of high ranked demons use their secretions to enlarge their might. Some of them catch Nephilim for that reason, too. Your brother is Nephilim like you are. You'll always be in danger."

"We're the sons of the traitor Sparda. They would come after us anyway. But do you mean I can do that, too? Manipulate people like Assiel because I'm Nephilim?"

"Maybe. You haven't reached your full potential yet. But keep in mind that the abilities of Nephilim are not all the same. And Assiel doesn't change appearance at will. Mundus caught her before she learned to do it. She only knows how to deal with the situation at best. You should learn that, too." He touched his eye again and the light faded. "This place has no use to us", he said right in time for Kat to hear.

"How is the boy?", Dante asked her.

"He doesn't seem to remember. Assiel would be a great ally."

"She won't come with us."

"You asked her?"

"No. Maybe she just said what I wanted to hear. She's good with such things." Now that he thought about it, maybe that was a female gift. He should be careful next time a woman praises him. Or better not. It would ruin the fun.

"You're mean. She just wanted to help." Kat sounded kind of offended.

Considering his luck Dante decided to drop the subject. "So where do you want to go next? The day is still young."

"But Phineas said Vergil hadn't been here. I thought you wouldn't want to look for him anymore."

"Since I'm a nice guy I changed my mind to your benefit. I wouldn't want to find you locked in your room crying about my brother again. We'll find him so he can break up with you officially."

"You're an asshole", she retorted and turned. Dante grinned and motioned to Phineas to follow her. Somehow that had made him feel better.


	4. Memories of places - I

A/N: Thanks to all who are still reading Perspective, who follow and favourite it and very special thanks to justaguest for the review of the last chapter. It made me really happy after a really bad day. I hope all of you will enjoy this chapter as well.

Since Vergil's downfall is released I should tell you that I wrote most of this story much earlier, so Vergil's recent events are ignored in Perspective.

Status: not beta-ed again (Sorry, but things didn't work out like expected); part 4 of 6 (This part of the story got 2 chapters because of the length.)  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of DmC.

**4. Memories of places - I**

Kat led the way to the Virility factory.

"Why would he come to this place?", Dante asked looking at the giant logo of the drink. Good thing that he didn't use to drink it often for he was more the whiskey type. Although this stuff wouldn't influence him he now knew the ingredients and that was reason enough to never drink it again.

"This place is large with a lot of labyrinth like aisles."

"Yeah, completely unlike Raptor News", the hunter commented.

"And it was the greatest factory of chemical mind control."

"Do I see a running gag about that mind control stuff?"

Kat smiled a devilish smile Dante didn't knew she could muster. He wanted the shy, innocent woman back who tried to help him although he didn't ask for it. The events changed her. Or maybe she just unbend.

"Phineas, stay close", he whispered. Bad enough his only male support was an ancient demon.

Surprisingly there were still humans around the mixing room although they could see the demons now.

"Are they crazy? Why don't they run?", Dante asked unbelievingly.

"It's the drink. They are addicted to it", Kat explained.

They watched as a man smashed a chair on the head of another one. No one seemed to care but all of them got aggressive when someone came too close. They fought for the rest of the drink. Since the succubus was dead the production stopped. Virility became hard to achieve while at the same time the whole town seemed to need it to stay sane.

"This could be useful", Phineas said but earned a solid "NO!" from both, Kat and Dante.

"We don't use mind control", Kat explained looking at Dante as if she feared he would change his opinion.

The demon hunter nodded. Something else was on his mind though. "Phineas, how is it the succubus in the club could manipulate me if the secretion of them is in Virility? Vergil said it would only afflict humans."

"The succubus touched you. The concentration on their skin is much higher than the secretions used for this liquid."

"In Limbo it still hurt me."

"In Limbo it was more acid like. You know where the secretions came from?"

"Yeah ... but it's not acrid now. They still drink it."

"Limbo and the human world are not the same although Limbo collapsed. The surrounding here is more stable for example."

Dante nodded. This was something he was really glad for.

"How can we stop them from drinking it?" Kat asked.

"I don't think there is an easy way. They see where the stuff comes from and they still drink it." His eyes were fixed on one of the demons which had a tap in its stomach. "This is sick." He stepped closer to Kat who was leaning over the handrail to look down the path Dante had used last time to get to Poison. The hunter glanced down, too. There was a lot of that yellow liquid now, enough that it was almost within reach if Dante stretched down a little. He could see chunks of something floating on the surface. Someone had hung a pump and a pipe into the stuff. It lead to a place where many people fought.

"What happened to the succubus in this facility after you defeated it?" Kat apparently knew how to find the most disgusting topics unerringly.

"Let's say it got mixed." Virility with extra meat for more weight and stupidity. Now that he thought about it, this new, higher concentrated drink could have some side effects. Her silence told Dante Kat was thinking the same. He looked around the room. "It doesn't seem to kill them - directly." That was good news he assumed.

"We need to be careful", the medium said.

"I always am."

"My staff!", they heard Phineas' scream. The stupid demon had wandered off while nobody paid him any attention. He stood face to face with a guy who tipped the scales at at least a ton. "Give it to me!"

Kat ran over to the demon. She was right in time to see him getting hit by a powerful right hook from close range. There was a lot of weight behind that punch. According to the human worlds physics it send the demon flying. Dante took his time to join the scene. With all of his power he could kill the man but with a normal dose he doubted the guy would even feel a thing. He settled for the easiest of his options using Ophion to catch and pull the man until he fell. The man stayed aggressive, cursing the world in general it seemed. And he still clung to the staff like it was more important than to get back up to his feet. Maybe because it meant lesser effort.

"Be a nice boy", Dante recommended but only got insults in response. One well aimed kick send the man to sleep. "You've been warned." He picked up the staff and went over to where Kat knelt next to Phineas. "What's wrong with him?"

"He's out cold."

"Makes two of them. Here", he gave her the staff, "Stay here with him. I go and clean the area." He draw Ebony and held the gun out to Kat. "Take her for defense but be careful. The trigger is easy going."

"Her?", Kat asked but took the weapon.

Dante didn't answer. He turned, watched the people around for a moment to decide if they were a threat and then went to the door he remembered from his last visit. While he went through the aisles he considered if Vergil came here to get a bit Virility. If he knew how the succubus ended he could use it even against other Nephilim. With the complete demon inside the stuff ought to be much stronger.

"Not a single demon", the hunter declared when he came back into the mixing room. Phineas was on his feet again unlike the fat man. He and Kat went over to Dante and they reentered the aisles.

"How can that be?", Kat asked.

"I don't know. There are a few people wandering around - confused and disoriented - but no demons."

"I can feel something", Phineas said after a while. They had reached a part of the facility which was drowned in Virility. The demon tapped his eye until it shone in red light.

"And now?", Dante asked as nothing happened.

"This is the point but the memory is weak. Follow me." Phineas led the way around a few corners. When he stopped Dante stared in disbelief.

"Is this another illusion?", he asked. A few feet in front of them knelt the red silhouette of Vergil. Next to him stood another red figure. It looked like a knight in a thick armor armed with a hell of an axe.

"I see it, too", Kat whispered.

"This is the memory of the place", Phineas explained.

_"You're the son of Sparda?", the knight asked. He held his axe over his head ready to strike and probably decapitate his opponent. Surprisingly Vergil didn't seem to care. He waited with his head low. At a closer look he seemed to be injured and exhausted. One of his hands looked scarred. It held a jar. His other hand was empty and touched the ground. Yamato had been discarded, laying on the floor behind the knight._

_"You're disgusting, dishonorable and not worth to be called his son", the dark voice rambled on. _

The silhouettes disappeared and the red glimmer faded.

"What's wrong?", Dante asked, his voice sounding more impatient than intended.

"It ended. Places don't have a good memory. It drips off. Only few events are intense enough to stay."

"Is he dead?", Kat breathed. She stared with wide eyes to the spot where Vergil had knelt.

"No, there is no blood. Yamato is gone, too. He's fine", Dante reassured her. It was unlikely that some cleaners found their way here and blood didn't just disappear. The sword could have been taken like Phineas' staff but Dante didn't want to believe it. He turned to look at Kat. There were tears in her eyes and she covered her mouth with both her hands like keeping from screaming. "He's fine", the hunter repeated, reaching out and holding her in his arms until her breathing evened. Meanwhile he watched Phineas who did nothing but wait.

"This is a dead end", Dante said when they left the facility. "We got no hint at where he went after that."

Kat nodded. She hadn't said a word yet.

"I'm afraid I can't do more. We can only look for another place with memories of him", Phineas answered.

"HQ maybe", Dante thought aloud.

"We had been there when you recovered from the succubus. He had not been there or the memory was to weak to stay."

"Speaking of succubus, we should do something about the rest of Virility." They stopped and the hunter turned around to look at the building. "I could try to destroy the entrance but there is no way to get the people out before unless we carry them one by one when they are knocked out. I doubt we would even find them all. The facility is gigantic." He looked at the demon hoping he knew a way.

"You can't neutralize the secretion of a succubus."

"And we can't stop them from drinking it. They would rather die than leave their only source of the stuff." Dante wondered if this was the only Virility facility of the world. He doubted it. The drink would probably survive the death of Mundus. This trip had been a waste of time. They couldn't do a thing nor could they find Vergil. It was worse now because not even Dante was sure about Vergil's condition. He was worried. His brother could be dead no matter how often Dante would deny it. And even if Vergil was still alive - what happened to him after being defeated by a demon? Sparda got condemned to endure eternal punishment in hell. A fate worse than death, Vergil had said. Could that have happened to him now, too?

Back in the flat all three of them set together at the kitchen table. They wanted to make a plan but all seemed too busy with their own thoughts or cluelessness. Kat stared out of the window. It led to the other side of the town, pointed at the outer parameter of it. In this direction laid the St. Lamia's Orphanage and Paradise - the first too small to recognize it from here and the letter too far away. Maybe she could see the playground Eva had used to bring the twins to. The sky had started to darken even more, soon the sun would set although nobody would see it because of the clouds. Kat would go to sleep then. Phineas would probably write like he had done before. Dante wondered what he should do. He had slept for a long time and was wide awake now. It would be easy to turn night into day but he knew how this would end. On the other hand, he couldn't sit the whole night out, waiting in his room for the sun to rise. He'd die of boredom.

"Anyone any suggestions?", he asked tired of sitting around in silence. "Kat you know him better than me. There must be things he used to do, places he used to visit."

"Barely", she answered. "He used to stay hidden while watching the demons on the computer monitors. He did not come back to HQ nor did he visit the Raptor News Tower. There are millions of other places with computers though. Silver Sacks Towers - but we've been there. He left it after the fight. I don't think he's looking for computers anymore. I can't imagine what he would need them for."

"True. He had been at Virility. I doubt they had useful software he could have been interested in. But surveillance could still be an option." Things would be much easier if Vergil had gotten drunken and laid like normal men would. It wasn't the most intelligent pastime but it was probably exactly what he needed. Dante didn't wonder anymore why his brother saw mankind so differently. He hadn't spend much time among people. Nobody knew since when he had started to remember his heritage. If it had begun early enough he must have grown to think he was better than mankind years ago. He didn't act like he had ever been told different by anybody. Unlike Dante Vergil seemed to have had a carefree childhood. He was nothing like his brother or Kat who had been told they're crazy most of their lives.

"He had a laptop", Kat said after a while of more uncomfortable silence. "He could use it to hack into CCTV cameras."

Dante looked up. "Let me guess: You didn't remember this tiny, little detail until now?" But he shouldn't complain for he knew about it, too, but didn't remember until now.

"It used to be in his room." She ignored the Nephilim, jumped to her feet and hurried into Dante's/Vergil's room. There she opened a drawer which was hidden under the bed. It had a double bottom.

Dante was surprised how unerringly she found this hiding spot. "Why do you know where he kept it?"

"It's empty. He must have been here." She turned to Phineas and looked expectantly at him. The demon touched his eye until it shone red. At the window appeared the reddish silhouette of Vergil. All three of them watched the memory in silence.

"Your eye has hung up", Dante said after a while. Nothing happened. The figure just stood there and looked out of the window.

"He is just not doing anything."

"This is the most intense memory? I mean, this is a bedroom ..." It didn't make the slightest sense. Why did nothing happen?

"Maybe his thoughts and feelings were intense. We can't see them." At least Phineas sounded a bit clueless, too.

"He's not injured. Maybe this happened before he went to Virility", Kat suggested.

"He can heal in a matter of seconds. I can", Dante added when he noticed Kat was looking at him. She was not as Vergil- centric as he thought she would be.

_Vergil finally moved. He picked up the laptop which laid on the bed. "I need to hide you somewhere else", he whispered touching the computer almost affectionately. Something was still on his mind because he froze in the movement again. He seemed to have heard something for his muscles tensed. Then he looked around before he left the room in a hurry._

"Okay ... Does anyone have any guesses?", Dante asked. Kat had followed the silhouette into the floor but already came back. Apparently the memory had ended with Vergil leaving the room.

"He wouldn't hide the laptop at Virility so he must have went somewhere else", the medium concluded. "A place he thinks is safe."

"A safe place? After Limbo broke down? Where?" He stopped urging Kat as he saw the look on her face. She was concentrated and he didn't want to disturb her.

"Maybe a sealed place. But there aren't many places I sealed. HQ would have been one but we know he didn't went there."

"Or nothing 'intense' happened there. What about another place?"

"I don't know. He taught me how to use my abilities. I guess he can seal places himself."

"So this memory is as useless as the last one?"

"Don't blame me", Phineas said when Dante made eye contact. He sounded offended.

"I'm not blaming you." But your abilities in Limbo had been much more helpful, Dante added silently. "You know what? You should get some sleep. We'll think about this tomorrow." While watching Vergil standing at the window he had noticed that it had gotten dark.

"What a wonderful idea", Phineas agreed. The demon was remarkably happy all of a sudden. Suspicion made Dante follow the old guy to his room. Phineas didn't seem to mind him. He just sat down in the middle of the dark room, touched his eye until it gleamed white and picked up the papers which covered the whole ground.

"What are you writing?", the hunter asked.

"I'm old, you know", Phineas said and caused Dante to think _"No shit"_, "My memory gets weaker and weaker so I started to write about the events before I forget them."

"You keep a diary?"

"I like to call them memoirs."

"So there are more of them? Where do you keep them?"

"They got burned or lost when Mundus imprisoned me. But I hid one of them especially well. It should still be somewhere. It contains the story of Sparda."

"Where did you hide it?" There was a tiny spark of hope to get to know more but then again it would just distract him. Whatever happened before Sparda was caught had nothing to do with looking for Vergil right now.

"Another town close to the oldest gate." Phineas had started to write again and his voice had gotten quieter.

"What a gate?", Dante asked, trying to keep the demons attention. "Phineas?" He didn't get an answer. For another minute he just watched him writing then he turned to leave.

"What are you going to do?", Kat asked when he found her standing in the door-less room.

"I slept enough for months. Guess, I'll wander around the town, kill some demons."

"Getting drunk", she added.

"A little maybe", he relented."I'll be back and sober when you wake up. I promise."

She nodded and went to her own room.

Dante roamed around downtown which looked already better. There were lesser fires, debris and garbage. The people seemed a tiny little bit more relaxed, too. It was still no pleasure to meet them. Dante fought when he met demons and visited a few clubs but only stayed for a drink or two. They summed though and soon he felt the alcohol kicking in. It was always funny at first but soon he became musing. He couldn't tell if Vergil had gotten his laptop before he had went to Virility but it seemed more likely. The computer was important to him so he wouldn't leave it behind. He had went to the flat, picked up the PC and hid it somewhere safe. Then he had went to the facility where the knight demon defeated him. And now he was somewhere - either as good as dead in hell or still alive in this town.

"He's safe", the hunter whispered to his bottle. He had entered a Rock music club. There weren't many people around and most of them were male. It lacked a decent amount of poles and dancing women. This was a change to his routine but he believed it would help him to stay as clear in his mind as possible.

"Who's safe, buddy?", a man asked and took the seat next to Dante.

"Who wants to know?", the Nephilim asked back. He eyed the man suspiciously. Usually he rarely got any male company and even rarer in recent days.

"A friend if you like. You're Dante, aren't you?"

"You'd know. There is only one me." Well, unless the guy knew Vergil who had the same face but that was unlikely.

"You changed your style a bit. It's cool."

"It's not", Dante retorted. He had forgotten about his white hair but now he remembered.

"I saw you slayed some demons outside."

"Did you follow me?"

"To tell the truth, yes, I did. I'm a fan, you know?" The guy seemed excited. He had short brown hair and wore the common jeans stuff. There was a gun at his belt and the hand in his pocket probably wore knucks.

"Speak a bit louder. You'll get your own 'fans' soon enough."

"No, I mean it. I always believed The Order, you know. Me and my friends are killing demons, too." The man waved at a group of people. More men joined them. Some of them really looked like they could fight a battle. Dante didn't know what to think about them. They were only human and armed with just common weapons.

"You need something more powerful", he said, pointing at the man's belt with his bottle.

The man smiled and ordered himself and his friends something to drink. They stayed with the hunter although Dante didn't encourage them. They tried to impress him with stories about the demons they killed. One of them seemed very proud of his shotgun he wore on his back. It reminded Dante that Kat still had Ebony. That was OK though. Maybe she'll still need her.

Much time passed until one of his new 'friends' came back from the toilet with a can of Virility. Dante lifted a brow. Vergil must have forgotten to actually name the threats when he warned the citizens in his little TV show.

"Want a cigarette?", another guy offered. They had told them their names but Dante hadn't listened. The man hold out an already smoking ciggy to him. The hunter took it and drowned it in the Virility can which got handed around.

"If you survive the demons this stuff will kill you. And I mean both, the cigarette and Virility." He tried to explain them the mind controlling effect of the liquid. There was no way around the succubus while doing so and soon they had effectively urged him to tell the whole Limbo story. Meanwhile he watched the guys to keep them in a condition that would allow a fight. Sooner or later they had to leave the club and the streets were still filled with demons. He didn't want them to die although he thought the idea of humans fighting demons was stupid. And while he was so unusually caring he forgot to get more drunken himself.

At some point of the night the men had left and Dante had started strolling around again. Until the sun rose he had gotten sober instead of laid. That was another change. He was worried that he was actually reaching mental adulthood now.

Kat was already awake when he got home. She was making coffee and breakfast, offering him some, too. He declined. It was a strange feeling that rose while watching her doing something so normal. Soon Phineas joined them in the kitchen. Again they sat together, ready to make a plan. And again there was icy silence.

"How was your night", Kat finally asked - probably only for the sake of saying something.

"Interesting. I think I met a few friends of yours."

"Really? Whom?"

"I don't remember their names. They'll probably die even in this week. Who got the idea that humans can kill demons?"

"I killed a demon", she said. Dante remembered that part of her story.

"Vergil helped you", he argued.

"He told me how to do it. And I told others how to do it." She leaned back and crossed her arms.

"It's not a good hobby though. Humans die easily", Dante commented, watching her closely.

"Do you say we're not allowed to fight demons?"

"I can't stop you from tying."

"But you would if you could?"

Dante hesitated. He thought he knew where this conversation was leading.

"Many people will die regardless of whether they fight or not", Phineas interfered in a surprisingly human way. One could think he really cared a little bit.

"Do whatever you want. All I'm saying is that these people stand no chance against demons like the succubus or Bob Barbas for example." Dante crossed his arms as well.

"Maybe we're not as strong as you are but we are outnumbering. And I dare to say some of us are smarter than you and the demons", Kat said. There was something in her voice and her eyes that resembled humor.

"Which has to be proven", the hunter answered. It was true that most demons weren't brainiacs but there was no way he would let her doubt his wits.

She smiled. "So, I guess, you found a place we can look for Vergil then."

"Do you?", he asked back.

"Don't answer questions with counter-questions."

So they ended up where they had started.

"Actually I have a guess", Dante said after a while. He remembered one of his new 'friends' talking about his family, saying that the safest place was his home. "We should visit Paradise."


	5. Memories of places - II

A/N: Thanks to all who are still reading Perspective, who follow and favourite it. Special thanks to AndDownWeGO who favourited Perspective during the last week. And many thanks to justaguest for keep reviewing. I'm so glad to have all of you.

In fact, the reactions to Perspective motivated me to take the events and rewrite them from Vergil's perspective with a lot of his past (like I think it was, ignoring Downfall and Vergil Chronicles (the latter is not sold in Europe yet)) embedded in flashbacks (I'm not really a friend of flashbacks, too, but I think there is no other way to do it.). I thought about writing something from Vergil's pov anyway and since I think most of his part got lost during Perspective I thought, rewriting it could be a good idea. Statius was supposed to be a more detailed character as well but some ideas just wouldn't fit into Perspective so I left them out. Maybe you want to tell me your opinion if that's a good idea or a rather cheap way to 're-sell' an old story (especially since you will know how it ends as soon as Perspective's last chapter is uploaded). Just send me a PM or something.

Status: not beta-ed again (It seems to be a sure bet that I won't get a Beta until the story is over. Sorry for that.); part 5 of 6 (This is part two of the Memories of places chapter.)  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of DmC.

Note: Since Vergil's downfall is released I should tell you that I wrote most of this story much earlier, so Vergil's recent events are ignored in Perspective.

**5. Memories of places - II**

The property looked worse than before. The entrance arch that wrote "Paradise" had come down and the facade including the door was broken, blocking the way. The lawn was speckled with small craters and fissures.

"What happened here?" Kat was as stunned as Dante.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we found demons inside. You two stay here until I made sure there's no danger." Without hesitation the hunter left the group to find another way into the building.

"Wait, we can help!", the medium shouted, already trying to catch up with him.

"No, I don't want to see you imprisoned in a screen again. You're not helping when you get yourself in danger. Stay outside, keep a bit distance from the walls. They look unsteady. I come and get you when the coast is clear." He made eye contact with her. She must feel useless since there were no more portals needed but he had no time to feel sorry. He just couldn't keep an eye on her while fighting. "You stay here", he repeated slowly and clearly.

She nodded reluctantly and went back to Phineas.

Dante found another entrance at the gable. It was a strange feeling to be here again. He only hoped he would do without any more flash backs. As much as he longed to know more about his past as much did it distract him. This time he was not here to remember. Quickly he made his way through different rooms. No demons just like in Virility. He had a feeling that it had been Vergil who cleared the facility and this house. Whatever he was doing he had probably no use for demonic distraction. By accident Dante came across the room with the painting of Sparda. Someone had taken it from the wall it was now leaning against. By this time Dante was almost sure Vergil had been here but his hopes got deceived when he found the room with the painting of Eva. The painting was burned. It hurt to look at the almost empty frame which had only black parts of the canvas left. Ashes laid in front of it on the cold ground. They were cold, too. The offender had probably left already. If not he would suffer a very unpleasant death, Dante promised. He went on and came across a room with giant mirrors at the walls. The hunter felt uneasy here. Nothing happened though and he found many other rooms with smaller mirrors. There was nothing to it. Finally he found a room that had been used recently. There was a table, a chair, the laptop, the jar and some papers and books. But all of it were more or less burned as well. If Vergil had seen what happened here, this place ought to contain quite some intense feelings, Dante guessed. He took some time to take a closer look at the room. All of the books were burned too much to recognize their contents but between the burned pages of one Dante found the family photograph he had left behind last time he had been here. It was unharmed so someone hid it in this book after the room got burned down. This time Dante folded it and put it into the pocket of his coat. He examined the jar. The content resembled Virility. The jar was filled to the brim. Whatever Vergil had planned on doing with it he hadn't used it. He had left it behind so maybe his mind had changed. At least he was alive. The jar was the evidence that he came here after he had been in the Virility factory. But then someone burned down his working place. Another opportunity to get killed.

"You're pursued by bad luck, bro", the hunter whispered. It was time to get back. There were no demons so the coast was clear. At least he had thought so for a second. All of the sudden it became dark in the room although it could only be around lunch time. Dante wished he had thought of a flash light this time. Luckily the darkness wasn't as thick as in the Raptor News tower. He could still see enough to make his way through the house. And that he did as nothing else happened. Change perspective, he told himself. He was not afraid but he felt uncomfortable and therefore thought he could as well try to follow Assiel's advice. No one would ever know so why not giving it a try? But he couldn't find the upside of darkness. Something appeared next to him and he immediately drew Ivory and aimed. It was a mirror and something was looking right at him with red gleaming eyes.

"Not that again. It's getting old", he growled. At least he had not seen anyone inside the building so he probably wouldn't stab a human by accident this time. "Get lost", he told the thing inside the mirror. A moment later the mirror was empty. Actually he had seen demons inside mirrors quite often in his life. Maybe that was why didn't use to have some. But because it happened so often he had gotten used to it. He would warn Kat but that was all. The demon didn't require any effort as long as it stayed behind the glass. And there he was again, in the room with the giant mirrors. A lot of demons bustled behind the glass now. Dante ignored them, too. He just needed to tell Kat about it before she'd get frightened. And he needed to keep Phineas from changing the perspective. Everything was fine the way it was now - unless you wanted to look at your reflection. Next room was the one with the empty frame. It wasn't empty anymore. Another demon was loitering in it. Though it was dark Dante thought he saw the demon who had defeated Vergil at Virility. At the bottom of the frame was still the sign with Eva's name.

"You're the ugliest woman I've ever seen", Dante told the demon. It protruded its helmeted head until its face was only inches away from Dante's.

"You're a son of Sparda."

"You don't say."

"I see your future of blood and pain", the demon informed. Dante lifted an eyebrow.

"Causing or receiving?", the hunter asked.

The demon hesitated, its face hovering in the air still bound to the frame. "Causing", it finally said and surprised Dante.

"You should get lost then, don't you think?"

The demons head levitated a bit higher. "No one will leave this haunted house", it announced.

"So you saw me inflicting pain to and drawing blood of you?"

The demon hesitated again. "I may not let anyone leave", it said then.

"Fine with me", Dante said and draw Rebellion. "Your choice."

The demons head now ascended to the ceiling. Then a hand appeared at the frame. Another one followed. "Take your time", the hunter stated, leaning onto Rebellion. He guessed he could let the demon come out of the frame. It was big but it didn't seem very clever. To his surprise the demon shrunk as soon as it was outside. Now it was barely taller than Dante was. It resembled the demon at Virility but it was not the same. This one was leaner, lesser good protected by its armor. And it had no axe but a sword.

"Can you even bleed?", Dante asked. Something was strange about this demon. It didn't attack him right away. All it did was blocking the way by its existence.

"I see rivers of blood and a blood red moon." Well, that had not been asked but at least it was an interesting image.

"What exactly are you doing here?"

"I prevent visitors from leaving."

"And that you do because?"

"It's the reason for my stay."

"Can't you go and keep people from leaving somewhere else? A prison maybe?"

"I shall not let anyone go!", the demon suddenly shouted.

"I'm not deaf - yet." Apparently the nice way wouldn't lead to any success. But at least he had tried. Not all demons needed to die. Take Phineas for example. But if this one didn't want to let him go he had no choice. "I'll attack", he informed. It was just fair since the demon didn't seem to care. Then he rushed forward, Rebellions tip first. The sword pierced the demon but that was all that happened.

"I shall not let anyone go", the demon repeated.

"Yeah, I got it." Dante drew his sword out of the shadow like body. Apparently he had not made any damage. "You can't bleed, can you? Your future telling is crap." But if the sword went right through the body than maybe he could, too. He did a step backwards and then rushed forward again. It felt like hitting a wall full force. And it made a metallic sound. Dante stumbled back, irritated and a bit angry.

"I -", the demon started.

"Cut it out", Dante growled. He shook his hurting head to clear his vision. That was when he noticed the blue eyes of the demon. He reinforced his angelic side and Osiris appeared on his back. "Last chance", he told the demon. He got some attention this time. The eye color of the demon changed to red. Dante concentrated on his demonic part and Osiris turned to Arbiter. Then he attacked. This time he could make a dent. The demon cried out. It changed its stance into a fighting position.

"Now things get interesting", the hunter commented and attacked anew. The axe hit the sword of the demon but Dante could push his opponent back. A sudden noise caught the hunters attention for a moment. He turned around to see a golden framed mirror with black, claw like feet standing at the door he had come from.

"You're kidding me." Then he remembered the other demon and turned to look at it. It hadn't moved. But that one wasn't his only opponent anymore Dante soon noticed as something hit his lower back forcefully. He stumbled forward, fighting back the pain. The armored demon moved to stand in front of the strange mirror which had delivered the kick. There was that face behind the glass again. Red gleaming eyes watched interested while the other demons eye color had turned blue. They were an odd couple. Dante drew Ivory and shot at the mirror. The glass broke but the demon still stood there. The armored one stepped in front of the other so the smaller demon was hidden from sight. Then perspective changed and caused Dante to turn and look for Phineas but the old demon wasn't around. When he looked back the couple had become one single demon with one red and one blue eye. It had grown a bit, too. Suddenly it rushed forward with incredible speed. Dante could block the attack with Rebellion, changed to Arbiter and counter attacked. He heard the armor crack, then switched to Osiris, dodged the sword of the demon and attacked the other side. The angelic weapon didn't make much damage but at least it was light-weighted enough for Dante to evade another attack. But as soon as some distance got between the two of them, the demon started to rush around the room. It tackled Dante with its weight. The hunter evaded a few attacks but finally got hit at his right shoulder. He heard his bones break under the force of the attack while pain flooded his system. A moment later he found himself lying on the ground.

"Son of Sparda", the demon addressed him while said son fought to get back to his feet.

"Right here", the hunter answered.

"Your brother sends his regards."

"Fuck you, too", Dante answered. He had let feelings mingle with battle before he wouldn't let it happen now. After all he needed to get out of here anyway. Since the two demons had combined they had become faster and cleverer it seemed. He could either try to find a way to defeat them though or he must think of a way to separate them. It had something to do with the mirror, he could swear. He staggered backwards to the room with the giant mirrors but the demon was aware of his doing. It attacked again but Dante evaded by rolling backwards. This way he reached the other room. His appearance seemed to unsettle the other demons behind the glass. They threw shadow- like fists against their confines and moved frantically. Still they didn't seem to be a direct danger, so Dante concentrated on the armored one which was already rushing towards him again. The moment the demon entered the room it screamed in anger. Slowly the smaller demon got torn out of their combination. It seemed like the other demons were somehow drawing it away from the other. A moment later it was caught behind glass again and Dante made a mental note to not shoot the mirrors again even if they would follow him on some eerie kind of feet. Apparently the smaller one lost its voice, too, when it left the body of the other demon. It gestured to the other to destroy the mirror but the armored demon was stupid again. It had red eyes and just stood in front of the door.

"Let me guess, you shall not let anyone go", Dante tried. He moved his shoulder in small circles to get back the feeling. His bones had healed meanwhile.

"I shall not let anyone go", the demon repeated. The hunter nodded. Yup, this demon had lost its intelligence. Arbiter reappeared on Dante's back.

"I'm kind of sorry", he said before he send the axe down onto the shoulder of the demon. The armor burst and the demon screamed in agony. It punched at Dante and caused the hunter to back away. Human like blood flowed out of its wound and splattered the mirrors. The demon did not attack but the smaller one in the mirror was moving frantically, while the others retreated into the black background. "You got your blood and your pain. Will you let me go now?", Dante asked.

"I - shall - not", the demon stammered. It broke off to save its energy and changed his eye color to blue. Although he didn't really wanted to do it Dante attacked with Osiris. This time the sickle decapitated the demon which disintegrated to ashes. The other one threw its fists against the mirror but it didn't even make a sound.

"Ignore the demon in the mirror." That was the first Dante said when he reunited with his friends.

"I already don't like those mirrors", Kat said.

"Doesn't matter. These mirrors are under my protection now. If the demon gets out we do have a problem." He wanted to make his point clear. Nobody knew with what other being the demon could merge. Maybe it could combine with Phineas because he was a demon, too. The easiest way to deal with it was to ignore it. "And don't be surprised if you see a mirror wandering around. It just does such things."

"Did you get your head hurt?"

"Trust me." He led the way through the darkness which had not disappeared. During the fight he had so gotten used to it that the sun outside had caused him a headache.

"Why is it so dark?", Kat asked. Dante felt her hand on his upper arm. He let her cling to him. Actually he really liked such situations.

"It's the demon I guess. Just ignore it." When they passed the room with the mirrors Kat stopped. Dante was surprised, too. 'Vergil sends his regards' - The sentence had been written onto the mirrors a hundred times in a blood red color. "Ignore it", the hunter repeated. He led the way through the room. In the corner of his eye he saw the demon peeking from the bottom of a mirror. He made a rude gesture towards it while walking at a forced pace. They had to pass other mirrors though. In one room Kat shrieked because she had noticed that a mirror followed them. "I told you it can walk", Dante whispered. He felt uneasy, too, but he knew the demon could do them no harm in this state. At least Pheneas didn't seem to care. Finally they reached the burned room. The old demon made the memory appear.

_The armored demon stood in front of the desk, its axe burning. Vergil stood at the door and watched, while the demon set the table on fire. He did nothing to prevent this._

_"At last you understood, son of Sparda", the demon said. It turned to look at the Nephilim. "Now that you accept your demon we can leave this place. It was too tiny for your training all along."_

_"They won't let us do as we please", Vergil said. He sounded normal, no signs of fear or any other feeling._

_"Your brother would be a great help. Don't you want him at your side?", the demon asked, holstering the axe at its back. The table already burned by fiery, hungry flames. The laptop made some electrical, suffering noises and emitted sparks._

_"He won't agree." Vergil seemed confident. He had a lot of trust to his brothers compassion to mankind. "He would not put them in danger."_

_"Not even for his dear daddy? Then he'll be sacrificed for the greater good."_

_"Watch your tongue, Statius." Suddenly there was emotion in the Nephilim's voice. He seemed to be angry._

_"I appreciated Sparda more than you did when I met you." The demon turned and approached Vergil who didn't move. He just stood there, both hands resting on top of Yamato's hilt like the sword would be some kind of cane. The demon had to stop in front of him. "Aren't you ready to leave this sacred place?"_

_"We desecrated it enough. I am ready. But I need one of the books you just burned to leave a farewell gift."_

_The demon turned to the table. "Your books are worthless. I'll show you how to summon demons. No one will ever leave this place to speak about its secrets." It went over and picked up a book though. "This had been a good one nevertheless." The knight went over and pushed the book against Vergil's chest. "Hurry with whatever you want to do. I'll prepare the summoning. You'll be excited."_

_Vergil took the book and stepped aside to let the demon leave. He waited a moment before he went over to the desk. A few whispered words were all it took to make the flames die. He put the book down and draw a photograph out of his coat. He placed it between the pages, closed the book and left it where it was. Like on second thought he laid a gloved hand onto the broken, still smoking laptop for a moment before he turned around to join Statius._

The red glimmer faded. Silence stayed. What did they just see? Vergil collaborating with a demon? Dante was the first to turn away from the room. The mirror stood right in front of him now. The black face of the shadow demon seemed to be mocking. The hunter felt the urge to beat it but he didn't dare with Kat at his side. The medium had frozen and not moved yet.

"Statius", Phineas mumbled.

"You know him?", Dante asked.

"Yes, yes, I do. It happened long ago-" This sounded like a long story and this was definitely not the place nor the best time for a lesson in demonic history so the Nephilim interrupted:

"Not now. Kat, let's leave", Dante carefully addressed her. He took her hand and gave it a soft squeeze. Finally she nodded. They went back in silence. They had almost crossed the room with the mirrors when Dante saw something move in the corner of his eye. He told Kat and Phineas to go ahead. Then he turned to the demon who had changed the mirror to another one at the wall. It was writing something.

"I see you, son of Sparda, standing on a pile of writhing, suffering human bodies", Dante read. He thought about it for a moment before he quietly answered "You better get yourself some glasses." Then he left Paradise with no intention to ever come back. Vergil was right, the place had been desecrated. It held nothing of its former mysterious charm nor did it keep any more past secrets he longed to see.

"Where should we go, now?", Dante asked. He knew they were heading back to the flat but since Vergil would probably not wait there he saw no reason to do so. The last he wanted now was time to think. What he had seen at Paradise already caused a lot of questions. What if Vergil was now on the demons' side? What if he attacked? Were there any chances to change his mind? What if there was no other option but to ...

"You'll kill him, won't you?", Kat finally asked. She had made up her mind about it, too.

Dante thought about the question. But soon he found himself at a point where logic didn't matter anymore. "No", he then said, "I won't." It had almost happened back at Silver Sacks towers and it caused a feeling that he now identified as guilt. The event held the potential to hunt him for the rest of his life. Those were bleak prospects. According to Assiel he had to change his view and that would only happen if he got a chance to do better at a second time. He knew he couldn't kill his brother, his only left family, even if he deserved it. This time he would be in control of himself.

Kat looked at him surprised. He couldn't tell if she believed him but he wouldn't blame her if she did not. She had seen that he was able to do it with her own eyes. Anyway, she still led the way to the flat and Dante thought about wandering off alone until she opened a door a few streets earlier than expected.

"I have friends here", she explained when they walked through the floor. Then she knocked at another door. While they waited the hunter took in his surrounding. The floor was shabby. Cigarette ends and Virility cans were strewn about the ground, graffiti got sprayed along the walls. The smell was beyond description. Dante couldn't believe there were still people living here.

"Kat!" The man who had opened the door only far enough to see through the split seemed surprised. The hunter recognized him. It was one of the guys he had spend the night with. That sounded so wrong in his ears. "And Dante", the man said lesser startled.

"And this is Phineas. He's helping us to find Vergil", Kat explained. Dante could tell by the look at the man's face that he felt uneasy about the demon.

"He's not human", the man stated the obvious. Phineas seemed to feel uncomfortable as well. The demon averted his eyes, looking at the door that led outside. Somehow the hunter felt pity for him.

"He's a friend", Kat said loud and clearly. Dante wondered if she had already forgotten her own first reaction to the old devil. The man took the fact easily in comparison to her.

"Kat, I can't let him in. We have women and children in here", he tried to explain. This argumentation was leading nowhere seen from the visitors' point of view.

"Mike -", Kat started but got interrupted by Dante kicking open the door. That send the guy to the floor. The sound he made left no doubts that he had gotten hurt.

"I'm not human either", the Nephilim stated while gesturing for Kat and Phineas to get in.

Everyone in the living room was standing and looking afraid. Dante counted 8 men, 5 women and 2 children - quite a lot of people for a room as small as this. Mike had gotten to his feet again.

"Are you crazy?", the man asked. He got no answer. Instead Kat started to explain things. While she was talking Dante was observing the people and Phineas. It was difficult to tell who was more intimidated, the people by seeing a demon in their flat or the demon by being face to face with a small demon hating crowd. Subconsciously the hunter tensed in response to the atmosphere.

"So, you're trying to make a deal?", another man finally asked. "Our ... resources for a safer place to stay?"

"No, we're making an offer", Dante answered. "I'll take your fucking computer anyway." If he got Kat right she needed Internet to find possible places Vergil could be at. And he would make sure she got what she wanted as soon as possible. The whole situation was wearing. Better they got out of here before someone made a grave mistake. It was a silly idea to take the humans with them but now was not a good time to argue. Maybe all of them could relax with more space between them.

The man started to grin. Dante didn't recognize him but he could tell that this one was going to be stupid.

"Shaun", Mike warned his friend but had to watch him drawing a gun. It was an old fashioned revolver, not a good weapon to hunt demons, too slow and only having six shots before reload.

"I got a bigger one", Dante grinned back and draw the Revenant, the hunting shotgun with a sawed- off barrel he had gotten from Vergil. Kat sought shelter behind Dante knowing that he wouldn't pull the trigger but Shaun maybe would.

"You wouldn't shoot innocent people", Shaun said.

"Try me", the hunter challenged.

"We have a deal", Mike interfered. "I'll take you to the computer."

Shaun and Dante stared at each other a little while longer until the human gave in and lowered his gun. Mike led the way to another room of the flat.

"Does this thing even work?", Dante asked. The computer was as old fashioned as the revolver.

"Sorry, if we can't make up to your standards", Shaun teased. He had followed the group and was now standing dangerously close to Phineas.

"Everyone of my family had lost their job because of the optimization processes of Silver Sacks", Mike explained.

"What about the Internet?", the hunter asked.

"It's as important as Virility", Kat said. "Internet and TV program - they controlled the flow of information and spread their lies. I guess RaptorNews is down but the Internet should still work. It's gotten too big to be destroyed so easily."

"You're telling me that people keep electricity running and repair servers for this shit although demons are slaying their families?"

"Be grateful", Shaun said.

The moment Kat sat down in front of the monitor she was out of reach, concentrating on whatever she was doing. Mike stayed at her side. In the meantime Dante urged Phineas back to the living room. Shaun followed them making some comments about this 'demon friend'. It was a tensed silence as demon and Nephilim sat down against a wall of the room while the humans stayed across from them. The women kept the children close. The men stayed alerted.

"The Order told us you'd save us", one of the kids said. The boy seemed intimidated but too curious to stay silent. Dante didn't answer. What should he say? 'I did'? He doubted he had made things better.

"He did", one of the men said. The hunter recognized him. This was the man who had first spoken to him at the bar.

"Dante, the demon hunter", Shaun mocked. "Breaking into people's flats, pointing guns at them to get a fucking computer. Sounds to me that Raptor News wasn't wrong at all. How many people got killed at your hunts?"

The man wasn't silly at all, Dante had to give him that. He couldn't deny that people had died when he was around although he wasn't the killer.

"You're the only one who'd probably die if they attack now", the hunter promised. He would make sure the people would get away unharmed but that Shaun guy was a real pain in the ass.

"Let's go outside to find out how tough you really are, demon hunter."

"Shaun, stop it already", a woman hissed. She held the other child in her arms. A girl who looked frightened but amazed at the same time.

It got silent again. Phineas reached up to his eye but Dante caught his arm. "Don't", he whispered, not wanting the humans to mistake the demons actions.

"Might I get some paper and a pen then?", the old demon asked.

"Not now."

Kat seemed to take her sweet time but finally she entered the living room with some papers in her hands. "I found some promising places", she informed.

Dante got to his feet. "Let's go then."

More time had passed until the group of humans got ready to leave their hiding place. It took Kat, Mike and that other guy quite a bit effort to persuade them to follow Dante who left the flat as soon as possible. The Nephilim urged Phineas to lead the way so he could stay between him and the humans. It was Shaun in the first place whom Dante didn't trust. The idiot would probably try and shoot Phineas if he got a chance.

While Kat showed her friends their new home, the Nephilim and the demon went up into their flat. It was strange to feel closer to a demon than to humans even if it was only for a short period of time.

"I need a drink", Dante said when he sat down at the kitchen table. He spoke loud enough for Phineas to hear although he had retreated into his own room. The demon didn't answer though. Soon Dante got bored and went over to him. "What are you writing about?"

"I just thought about some rituals which require human blood. I only mentioned one in my first book so I add the others now."

"I can't blame you for wanting to shed some of their blood. But do it only in your head, okay?"

"Rituals don't always require deaths. They're nothing like revenge or hatred driven murders. The blood of a pure hearted priestess combined with demon blood can be very powerful for example."

"Someone tried it?"

"This was the way your father tried to escape Mundus. He weakened himself by doing so. Mundus found another way out and Sparda didn't have the might to stop him anymore. Sad story, indeed", Phineas only randomly said.

"You wrote about it?" Dante was bewildered. He had thought the story of Sparda would mostly consist of what Vergil had already told him but there seemed to be more about it.

"In my first book. I barely remember the details now. So much time had passed."

"Can't be much more than 20 years", Dante urged. "What do you remember?"

"I remember the ritual. The priestess was a beautiful woman but your mother bested even her. She was an angel after all. I haven't seen many angels in my life."

"Speak on." But Phineas stayed quiet, concentrating on what he was writing. Dante felt like shaking or even beating him until the bastard told him everything. But it would do no good. Maybe he would tell him more at another occasion. The hunter left the demon alone and went into his own room. For a moment he remembered Vergil standing in front of the window. That was when he realized that he wouldn't stay here if they couldn't convince Vergil to give up his plans on ruling mankind. Maybe he wouldn't even stay in this town. When this was over he could possibly convince Kat to go with him.

"I'm back", Kat stated, entering the flat. "Mike will come over to install the computer in the door-less room. This will be our new HQ."

"Just think of a better name this time", Dante said, following her into the kitchen. She spread out the papers on the table.

"Any suggestions? It could include your name", she offered while sorting the pages.

"I had been part of a group recently. It didn't end well. I'm more the loner type, you know?" He smiled at her. The look she gave him was unreadable.

"Anyway, I think Vergil is either at 'The Hellgate' stadium or at 'Sky Ryders' aircraft factory. They are the largest places of the town with the least recent activities", she explained.

"Why do we even think he's still in town? He could be anywhere."

"Don't get pessimistic now. I say we try the stadium. It makes the better arena for a fight." She pointed at a few prints which showed the place from every possible angle.


	6. Vergil makes his appearance

A/N: Thanks to all who are still reading Perspective, who follow and favourite it. Special thanks to all who reviewed (and will review if I'm lucky). This is the last chapter but most certainly not my last work.

Status: not beta-ed again (Sorry, that I was unable to find one during all those weeks.); part 6 of 6  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of DmC.

Note: Since Vergil's downfall is released I should tell you that I wrote most of this story much earlier, so Vergil's recent events are ignored in Perspective.

**6. Vergil makes his appearance**

It had gotten dark until they were ready to leave. The full moon was bright at the cloudless sky, illuminating the devastated city. Dante had a bad feeling. For some reason he remembered the verbal pictures the demons had given him at Paradise: Rivers of blood and a blood red moon, a writhing pile of bodies. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind, telling himself that every bad horror movie delivered such impressions. It was probably just the time of day. Usually he wouldn't go out for a fight bringing Kat with him at his time in the middle of the night. But the guys had somehow urged her to get to the stadium asap. That was another reason for bad feelings: three of the men were with them now. Trevor, the jeans- clad guy from the bar, drove the car. It probably belonged to him. It was bigger than Kat's, a family car, offering a bit more space. She sat next to him, sunken in her own thoughts it seemed. The first row of backseats was occupied by Shaun and Mike. Phineas and Dante sat behind them. The latter disliked the situation more and more the longer this trip took. Human devil hunters, he thought with distaste. Someone surely would die tonight. Small wonder his mind was infested with such images.

Finally they saw the stadium. It was nothing more than a dark silhouette in front of the dark sky at first but the closer they came the more people appeared on the road. They seemed like zombies. Something drew them to the 'Hellgate'. When the group reached the parking lot they found the reason. A truck with Virility advertisement stood close to the entrance.

"Virility sponsored the stadium", Mike explained, "just like they sponsored Raptor News Network."

"It seems like they are still selling it in there", Kat said.

"I don't think 'selling' is the right word", Shaun stated when they left the car. Around the truck people actually tried to kill each other. It was a silent agreement that the hunters group would take a look at what was going on. Or at least that one of them would.

"I'll go in. You wait", Dante said.

"I wouldn't bet on it", Shaun retorted. Trevor had opened the car trunk which seemed to contain the whole arsenal of the group. Shaun picked up a katana and an AK. He swung the gun over his shoulder and holstered his sword around his waist. Mike and Trevor got armed with guns and other stuff as well.

"They'll make me responsible for your deaths so I repeat myself: I'll go in. You wait." Dante said. He couldn't believe they still thought they had a chance.

"They are human. What are you afraid of?", Shaun asked motioning towards the crowd. Without hesitation he approached the truck. The other two men followed him. Kat and Phineas stayed at the car with Dante who had a few very unpleasant speculations what could happen next.

"Shouldn't we follow them?", Kat asked carefully.

"I can't protect all 5 of you. If they want to get killed I'm afraid we have to let them do just that." Dante could tell that Kat felt very uncomfortable about the situation. She shuffled and tensed whenever they heard a shot. After a while Dante felt her eyes upon him. "I can't", he repeated. Of course she was worried for her friends but right now the idiots were not only getting themselves into trouble but they also shot at other human beings.

"There!" Kat announced. Mike had separated from the crowd and waved over to them.

"The truck is empty but for a few crates of Virility. We go inside the stadium now!", he shouted over to them.

"Stupid idea!", Dante answered. He kept his position, leaning against the car with his arms crossed in front of his chest, to demonstrate what he thought about their doing. It didn't matter to them though. Kat got nervous again as they watched the guys fighting their way to the entrance. The people there were more aggressive, Dante could tell even from this distance. More shots fell, some people came to their minds and run away but most of them urged into the building themselves. People killing people, there was nothing more to it and nothing less. It was a bit like war. Nothing Dante wanted to be involved with. There was no chance Vergil would be in there anyway. They better tried the aircraft factory but Dante knew that Phineas was probably the only one to agree with him about that.

"We can't let them die", the medium finally said, after they had lost the guys from sight again, and run to catch up with the other humans. Dante exhaled and looked over to Phineas. The demon had turned his head towards the direction Sky Ryders was in. At least _he_ was clever enough to avoid this chaos, Dante thought.

"Will you wait here?", the hunter asked.

"There are demons inside", Phineas informed him, "They are both, human and demonic. You have to make a choice. Will you kill human beings?"

"I will kill the demons." More shots came from the stadium. Dante couldn't see Kat anymore but again a lot of people left the building. "They'll do the killing of humans", the hunter said bitterly.

"I wait here. You don't need me anyway." Phineas sat down next to the locked car. He drew some paper and a pen out of his robe.

"You're prepared this time", Dante remarked. He went over to the car trunk and took the flash light he had seen when the others had armed themselves.

The hunter hadn't even reached the entrance when the first man attacked him with an iron bar. He dodged, then counter attacked, knocking the man out. More people attacked then. Even women were fighting fiercely. While the hunter did his best to not kill anyone he heard shots from the inside. Again. He couldn't concentrate on defending himself, he had to get in there to make sure Kat was OK. His human opponents tried to follow him, reaching out to catch him or throwing improvised weapons at his back. This was like running the gantlet. He could barely fight back and got hit over and over again. Luckily they didn't cause much damage. When Dante reached the ranks he got his first glance upon the dead bodies. This place was going to become a mass grave. Blood was already everywhere on the ground. He noticed CCTV cameras along the ceiling. Their eyes were mostly fixed on him but a few seemed to gesture into special directions. Who controlled them since Raptor News was offline? Anyway Dante used them to move above the heads of people. It took him some time until he found Trevor trying to destroy a stall of Virility with a baseball bat. The hunter used the momentum, swinging from a camera, drawing Arbiter and smashing the stall with one fatal blow. Virility splashed into all directions and hit a few humans. They screamed loudly. Trevor stumbled back staring at the scene unbelievingly.

"That was -", he tried but got interrupted by a men throwing a chair at him. He dodged it in the nick of time. Some of the humans changed their appearance. More limbs grew out of their bodies. Since they seemed to turn into demons Dante decapitated them with his axe. A woman had gotten a second head in quick evolution but the hunter cut that off, too.

"I know", Dante stated as soon as they had a moment of peace. "Where are the others?"

"I don't know. I lost them. There are too many people around."

"Try to hide. I'll try to find a way to clear the place."

Trevor nodded and run off. Dante watched him until he couldn't see him anymore then he looked up at a camera. It pointed him down the ranks. At least it seemed like it did. It was just an eye after all. Since Dante had no other plans he followed the advice and fought his way down. There were still normal people between the transforming demons but their number quickly decreased. A glance up the ranks woke the terrible image of a pile of dead and still writhing bodies and rivers of blood flowing down. And all the time there were shots indicating more deaths. He had to hurry. Just a few minutes later he had found Mike fighting a man with a vendors tray. The seller had grown himself some extra arms so Dante decided he was demonic enough to be shot. Ivory's bullet hit the man right between the eyes.

"Dante, there you are. I lost Kat only minutes ago. She has to be close!" Mike seemed worried although it was hard to tell. Dante watched him fighting back a really fat guy. Unlike Trevor Mike seemed to count only on his fists and fast movements barely using his gun. He had an advantage in this fight but he would miserably fail against an armored or shield- equipped demon. It was pure luck that he was still alive. Suddenly the fat man screamed. A skeleton tore apart his chest and stomach and climbed out of the body. Dante greeted it with a shot of the Revenant to its head. Then he destroyed the cans of Virility which had fallen from the vendors tray with a few bullets of Ivory.

"Trevor must be hiding somewhere upstairs. Try to find him", he commanded. Mike nodded and run the stairs up. Dante looked around and found another CCTV camera. It was focused on something to the left side. The hunter went that direction. For some reason the cameras filmed the fighters. Who was watching them? Dante came across another stall. The people around this one had already turned to extra- limbed demons. Some of them were still drinking Virility which had an instant effect on their bodies. They grew fat and more aggressive until the demons inside tore their bodies apart. Those were equipped with swords and shields. They attacked immediately but stopped as a sudden flash of light illuminated the stadium. The headlights and the big screen had been switched on. The first seemed to be blood stained for the light was partly red. The demons tried to avoid the light, some of them got burned by it. Now, it was easier than expected to fight them back and to destroy the stall. Then there were shots again. Dante looked to the screen. It displayed Kat shooting with Ebony at several demons, dodging attacks and shooting again. Considering her surroundings the hunter could tell she was on the lawn in the center.

"Not far away, eh?", he mocked and started to fight his way to her. The place had gotten far lesser crowded since the headlights were on. Dante had to climb over a lot of bodies. When he looked up to check the cameras he notices that the headlights threw a red shade across the moon which barely shone through the clouds now. Finally Dante arrived at the center where Kat was fighting back to back with Shaun. The man showed a lot of expertise with his weapons. He could change swiftly and didn't miss any attack at him or Kat. But if he was here than who had switched on the lights, the screen and who the fuck controlled the cameras? Just as Dante intended to join in, the floodlights switched on as well. The whole stadium was illuminated now. Every demon around screamed and disintegrated. Apparently the higher concentrated Virility made also light sensitive. The speakers made a static sound. All humans who were left looked to the screen - as did Dante.

"Holy shit", Shaun commented the moment the pictures appeared on the screen. The first had been taken by a camera in the night club. It showed Dante who parted a beautiful woman into two halves. The angle was so that the succubus' wings were out of the picture and she had her red eyes closed, but everyone could see the hunter's devilish face. The next picture was taken at the Raptor News tower. It showed Dante who pierced Rebellion through the chest of a child. There was no hint to the illusion the hunter had seen at that time. It was just poor Andy surrounded by a bit of light in the dark room. The third picture showed Dante kicking at a helpless man who was already lying on the ground, taken in the Virility factory. Then the screen showed the actual situation, with no demons left but countless dead people all over the ranks while blood streamed down the steps. And then the cameras focused on Dante who stared at the screen unbelievingly.

"Well done, Dante. You destroyed every can of Virility in this stadium it seems. Are you proud of yourself?", Vergil's voice was to hear through the speakers. "You also found human friends to participate in your slaughter. What a pretty scene. Do you think you can clear the world off demons now? A Nephilim and some humans against billions of demons. That's the stuff heroes are made of, I guess. Problem is just that people will try to kill you when they see those little snapshots. Who will believe you're fighting for mankind then? But see the upside, too. You're no longer bound to that stupid goal of yours. I freed you of your self made image of a protector of mankind. I am inclined to smooth over our past differences, brother. Meet me at Sky Ryders. And you better come alone. We wouldn't like to hurt your new friends. I send a few demons for their entertainment." Then the screen and all lights went off and darkness fell upon the 'Hellgate'.

Mike and Trevor joined the group.

"You saw that?", Trevor asked excitedly.

"Was that a T-O-N sign in the corner?", Dante asked.

"The Order Network", Kat breathed. "He'll use The Order to infuriate people because they already know the group. He'll spread the pictures via the Internet."

"First he tells us to support you, now he tells us you're the root of all evil? He's destroying The Order's credibility. He wouldn't ... I mean, it's his own creation. He'll make himself untrustworthy", Mike tried to reason.

"Who knows his face? Give him another mask, another voice changer and he'll tell you The Order tried to hide those pictures from the public. He can set up as many fake organizations as he likes", Dante stated and turned to leave.

"Better we stop him", Trevor said. The humans caught up with the Nephilim.

"I will stop him. You have to get back to HQ. He said he send some demons and I have no doubts he also knows where to send them to." Thoughts were running wild inside Dante's head. There was no chance that all what had happened had been set up. Vergil surely found the records with his hacking skills. Maybe he wanted revenge. Destroy my life because I destroyed yours - something like this. But that wouldn't fit to him saying he wanted to smooth over past differences.

"At least we found him", Shaun stated when they left the stadium. That was what reminded Dante that Kat had seen all that, too. He cursed himself for forgetting her while thinking about Vergil. As he looked around he noticed that she had fallen behind, following the group of men only slowly with her head low and her steps unsteady. Again Vergil had hurt her. She must feel terrible.

"You need to take her with you", he said in a low voice to Mike who went next to him. "She's in no condition to fight and I surely can't let her come with me."

The other man looked over his shoulder to her and nodded. "Sure thing."

Kat didn't put up much of a fight when Dante told her to get back with the others. She had brought her friends to the apartment block, thinking that it was a safer place. Now it was going to be attacked. She probably blamed herself for putting them into danger.

"Sky Ryders aircraft works?", Phineas asked once the car was out of sight.

Dante nodded. They stole a car from the parking lot when the rain started.

"What do you know about that Statius guy? What are his motives?", the hunter asked while driving. Sky Ryders' was pretty far away from the stadium so he had the time to listen to the demon's story.

Phineas told him that Statius had been a close 'friend' to Sparda and Mundus. When Sparda betrayed the demons Statius had hesitated to decide for a side. Mundus had reacted immediately and send him to the prison which later became the Raptor News tower. But Phineas had never met him there so he thought Statius had found a way out very soon after his capture. He must have hid well for Mundus probably never knew his former ally had escaped. Since Mundus betrayal was more direct Statius probably was now planning on getting Sparda out of hell. Demons never used to make friends but the old ones stuck to some own kind of codex which demanded loyalty.

"How could he get him out?", Dante asked. This was a topic he was very involved with. If there was a way to get his father out of his punishment he should know about it.

"Only by opening another hell gate to get there himself. That would inevitably result in more demons escaping into this world."

"How many?"

"Does it matter? Let it be one of the oldest ones and you'll have mankind enslaved forever."

Dante nodded. This was too much of a risk. But he could see why Vergil agreed into this plan.

"Is there some trick to it? Why would the plan require my help?"

Phineas didn't answer right away. When he did he sounded clueless himself. "Maybe some sort of sentimentalism to Sparda."

Sky Ryders had bought a lot of buildings all over the world. Still the biggest was right here. Dante stood in front of the giant advertisement which was decorated with Kyle Ryder's face. It was a little bit nostalgic. The Nephilim had barely ever been prepared with information before a fight but this time he was. He knew Phineas was on his way in with the CD Dante had given him. He also knew that there weren't any humans in danger unless somebody had been stupid enough to stay in there. And best of all he got informed about that Statius guy. Phineas offered to help in this matter. He said he knew a way to seal the other demon's power from safe distance. If anything went wrong he would find a way to warn Dante, he promised. He wouldn't let Statius surprise him. So all Dante needed to do was concentrating on Vergil, keep him distracted, maybe convince him to change sides or knock him out.

Yet the hunter wondered why Phineas wanted to fight. He wouldn't complain though. Fighting Vergil would need all his concentration especially if he got another chance to defeat his twin. There was no doubt his devil would go for the kill again.

The rain was still pouring when Dante passed the advertisement. He send a dart of little Kablooey to Ryder's aka Mundus' face. When he was far enough away he let it detonate. He hadn't thought it was possible but this brightened his mood a little bit. He was grinning while the first burning, now smoking paper rained down along with the water.

The complex of buildings was copious and filled with demons but soon Dante noticed the system.

"You left a trail of demonic breadcrumbs. Now, that's sweet." And that trail led him to a giant hall. Usually there would be airplanes in here but it was empty now. There was no one to be seen.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Dante shouted into the empty hall.

"You seem to enjoy the game. Are you sure you want it to end? I have plenty more demons ready for you", the speakers answered with Vergil's voice.

"Cut the crap, Vergil. I'm here to stop you and your new demon lover!"

"Look who's talking. I've seen your little demon on the screens. He's a bit too old for you, wouldn't you agree?" Vergil appeared on the scaffold through one of his portals. He leaned forward, resting his arms crossed on the handrail. "But I was wondering what happened to Kat."

"Why is that? Are you missing her?"

"You should know me better by now. Tell me, how did you find me at Paradise in such a short time? We had barely left when the cameras already showed you on the driveway."

"You have your tricks, I have mine. Now come down here and fight!"

"You're always so aggressive, brother. Kat would certainly want you trying to convince me how wrong I am." Vergil straightened and started pacing. "I told you I'd forget about our differences and that you almost killed me. It's not your fault at all, is it? I've been born with a devil myself. I know how demanding it can be."

"So what now?" Dante watched his brother closely. He could tell by the sound of his voice that there was more to it. "You want me at your side again, ruling over mankind? Do we really have to go over this topic again?"

"I found a much more challenging task. You certainly remember what I told you about our father. That he's still alive. What would you say if I found a way to free him?" Vergil stopped his pacing and looked at his brother expectantly.

"You want to open a gate and literally go to hell. You know what? That's bullshit. You open the gate and more demons come out. I will not help you." So Phineas had been right. It was about Sparda now.

"I'm surprised. Who told you about that?"

"I heard it through the grapevine. Will you come down and fight now? Or do I have to get up there?"

Vergil exhaled audibly. "I guess I have to cool your temper down before we can really talk. Just keep in mind that I can destroy your life by simply uploading the images. You better kill me. If you can." Then he disappeared from the scaffold and reappeared a few feet to the left of his brother. "But that should be easy now. There is no Kat around to stop you from becoming who you really are. A lesser demon. A mindless killing machine. I could use you so easily to fight my battles. But I couldn't foresee that you would fall in love with Kat."

"This is your way to cool my temper down?", Dante asked, ignoring the meaning of what Vergil had said. Feelings and battle. Two different things. Yet there was one feeling he couldn't deny: something was very wrong.

"Attack then, brother", Vergil said, placing a hand at Yamato's hilt.

Dante did as he was told to. He expected Vergil to parry so he decided to use Arbiter. But his brother just disappeared again only to come down like an eagle upon its prey but with a force like a meteor hitting earth. Arbiter absorbed most of the incoming power but it still was a painful impact as Yamato hit the axe.

"Try again", Vergil teased, backing away and resuming his fighting stance.

Maybe it was better to stay agile so Dante tried Aquila. He wasn't badly surprised to see Vergil deflecting the blades. Before the last blade hit Yamato the hunter rushed forward with Osiris in his hands. But he was forced to stop his attack as Illusion swords appeared in the air, descending quickly. He could evade them but the moment he thought he had another chance to attack four of them appeared circling around him. A well timed jump had him escaping them but the moment he was in the air he was face to face with his brother who brought down Yamato onto his head with brutal force. The sword had been sheathed but the attack send Dante to the ground nevertheless. He got to his feet again quickly and saw Vergil attacking through his blurred vision. Rebellion was the first to come to his mind so he used the broad sword to block.

"Help me, brother. You would let our father suffer for eternity because of what reason?" And again Vergil backed away, disappeared before Dante could launch another attack at him and reappeared on the scaffold. He paced up and down there watching his twin attentively. Dante drew Kablooey and aimed it at Vergil, who laughed in return. "Turning my own weapons against me, aren't we? But that's the right weapon. Keep it in mind."

"What?", Dante asked but more Illusion Swords distracted him. Again he evaded and when he looked up his brother was gone again, only to attack from his right. For a moment Dante wondered why Vergil didn't hit him in the back but he would most certainly not ask. He rolled out of Yamato's reach and send a dart of his weapon to his brother. It only hit the blade and recoiled towards himself. He let the dart explode before it came too close. The fight continued like this, with Dante changing through his weapons and Vergil every now and then reappearing on the scaffold to take the time for talking. It was a very single- sided dialog for Dante had rarely the time or the mood to answer. He was rather observing instead, noticing that Vergil timed most of his fatal attacks after one of his little speeches or questions. The force his brother used was surprising as well. The concrete ground broke when Yamato's sheath hit it. But Vergil would never use the blade for such attacks. It was much smaller than Rebellion so Dante thought he maybe feared that it would break. Then again, could a Nephilim weapon break at all? He had the feeling Vergil was not really aiming for victory although he teased Dante and surprised him with some attacks. Time passed and at some point the devil hunter remembered Phineas. As on cue the sound of Heavy Metal music coming from the speakers interrupted the fight. That was the CD he had given to Phineas and it meant something had gone wrong. The hunter knew he had to be prepared for Statius now.

"What is that?", Vergil asked, looking as surprised as upset.

Suddenly a wall burst and the music died down. Debris flew through the hall. Dante dodged them while keeping an eye out for Phineas. One big piece of concrete smashed the scaffold Vergil was standing on. He evaded it by jumping down, landing only a few feet away from his brother. One of his hands was already lying on Yamato's hilt but he visibly relaxed when he saw Statius approaching through the dust.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience but I didn't know another way to stop that noise", the demon said.

"That was culture, you bastard!" Dante shouted. So the CD had gotten blown to pieces. Did that happen to Phineas, too? The demon was nowhere to be seen.

"Don't mind me", Statius said apparently addressing Vergil.

At first Dante didn't trust Statius to stay out of this but soon he noticed that he had no other choice. Vergil's way of fighting had changed drastically. He attacked with more force and an always unsheathed sword. Now he was going for the victory and Dante found himself in defense. His brother was quick and precise. He could avoid his attacks rather than parry and counter attack. It got even worse when his twin used his devil trigger but Dante didn't dare to unleash his devil himself. The moment inevitably came when Vergil won the upper hand and the devil hunter found himself on the ground, his body aching from the exertion of the fight and his inner devil scraping at the door of his mind. Vergil towered over him and then leaned in close, resting his weight on Yamato which pierced the ground next to Dante's head.

"You did well", he whispered, "but now you have to do even better. Give in and fight Statius." His voice was barely audible but the time he took seemed to unsettle said demon.

"What are you doing? Convince him or kill him", the demon demanded.

"Well then, Dante. This is your last chance. We can save our father or die trying. Or you die right here. You have nothing to lose. I have your reputation and life in my hands", Vergil announced, drawing Yamato out of the ground, lifting it, ready to pierce his brother's chest this time.

There was no other choice. Dante couldn't rely on his twin to not kill him although his behavior was strange. So he let lose of his devil who refilled his beaten body with new power. As Yamato came down he caught the blade between his palms and pushed it to the side, causing Vergil to let go of his weapon. Dante then delivered a kick to his brother's stomach which send him staggering backwards. He jumped to his feet and attacked the unarmed Nephilim but Rebellion hit a giant axe instead.

"Get your sword, son of Sparda", the demon told Vergil who obeyed. Dante put his full force and weight behind Rebellion but the axe didn't move at all. Statius pushed him back and swiftly attacked. Dante greeted the axe with his own. He made it to parry and counter attack but Arbiter didn't harm the armor of the demon. That was when he remembered Kablooey and Vergil's words. The right weapon to keep in mind. He gave it a try and shot a dart which got stuck at the armor. The demon roared in anger as it exploded, breaking a great part of Statius' defense.

"You're as dishonorable as you're brother had been. But I'll show you what it will get you." Suddenly the giant axe caught fire. The demon rushed forward. Dante tried to roll out of the way but Statius was more agile than expected. The demon barely hit its opponent but the hunter lost his balance though. Dante caught himself and threw an Enyx fist at the knight, who parried with his own. Whatever metal the armor was made of it made Dante feel like he had just hit a concrete wall with his bare hand. Normally the impact would have flaked the skin off his knuckles but Enyx could endure the pressure. He hit Statius helmet with his other fist but that couldn't harm him as well. The power of the armor and that of Enyx seemed to be dead even. Dante backed away, drew Kablooey once more. But even before he could think about pulling the trigger the burning axe hit his arm. He lost the grip of his weapon and backed further away from Statius. But the demon came after him, sending more violent blows with its axe towards Dante who could do nothing more than to evade until his back hit the wall of the building. With Enyx he blocked a few punches but while he felt his own demon getting weaker Statius seemed to get even stronger. One strike eventually his his stomach hard enough to break the wall behind him. Luckily it had only been the hilt of the weapon but the next attack was clearly supposed to cut him apart. One last time Dante collected all his strength and pushed the knight away who lost his balance for a moment. The hunter attacked, piercing Rebellion through one of the cracks in the demons armor. Statius only hissed and send the hilt of the axe down onto Dante's shoulder. The Nephilim fell to his knees but the knight seemed injured as well. With one shoulder damaged, the pain radiating through his arm, he had trouble to hold up his axe. That was probably why he holstered the weapon and instead punched Dante with his armored fist. He hit the hunters jaw, sending him to ground completely, spitting blood while trying to reactivate his inner demon. It was gone though. He had no power left.

"You need a break, son of Sparda?", Statius asked, towering over him. "Since you are twins I guess you're willing to change your mind now."

"Fuck you", Dante spit out.

Statius laughed and lifted an armored foot. "Just - give - in - already!", he demanded while delivering forceful kicks with each word, shattering Dante's ribcage. The pain was almost unbearable and the hunter close to unconsciousness. He thought that was, why he suddenly heard Kat's voice, begging someone to do something. But as his head fell to the side he saw her standing at the entrance of the building, aiming Ebony at the demon. She pulled the trigger and draw the attention of Statius off of Dante. The knight slowly turned to look at her.

"And who are you?", he asked.

"She's not important. _Her _weapon cannot harm you nor me", Vergil said. Dante wondered where his twin had been all the time. Probably he stood on a part of the scaffold which was still intact. Strangely, his voice sounded somewhat strained.

"I'll get rid of her though", Statius said. With some trouble he draw his axe, trying to wield it single- handed.

Dante felt the splinters of his ribs pressing into his flesh and lungs like needles as he tried to move. There was no chance he could get up. He needed a break for his bones to heal and his power to recover. That was probably what Kat tried to do, playing out time. But she would get killed if he didn't move. Ebony wouldn't make any damage. He had to get Kablooey back but the weapon had fallen to the ground some feet away. Yet, as he looked around the Taser- like weapon was within reach. It was painful beyond description to reach out, grab it, lift the arm, pull the trigger and send another dart towards the back of the demon and let it explode. More of the armor fell to the ground, leaving the back of the demon almost bare.

"Just wait a moment. I'll be right back", Statius commented, not caring about his lost armor anymore. He didn't even look at Dante but instead started to run to Kat. Like some huge juggernaut the demon rushed over to her, unstoppable - until it stopped. There was a blueish light like of an Illusion Sword. Vergil had appeared behind the knight. Dante could barely see what had happened. He saw the stance and the hilt of Yamato concluding that his brother must have stabbed the demon. His twin was so close to Kat that Dante was afraid he had hit her, too. Her small body was out of sight.

"You got sacrificed for the greater good", Vergil said, placing a hand on the demon's shoulder to keep it in place when he removed his blade. He stepped to the side, pulling the demon back so it fell and pushed Yamato through the devil's body again, the small blade smoothly fitting through the damaged armor. Now Dante could see Kat. She was still standing and seemed unharmed. Yamato must have stopped only inches away from her body.

"You ... traitor", Statius hissed before he started to disintegrate.

"Like father like son", Vergil commented, sheathing his sword. Then he turned, approaching Dante. Kat went after him, Ebony still in her trembling hand.

"It's quite a different perspective being the one on the ground, isn't it?"

Dante forced a smile. He had no clue what had really happened. Slowly his body recovered but he knew if Vergil decided to kill him now he could not defend himself. Vergil knelt down and took Kablooey from his hand.

"It's mine and I badly missed it over the past days. You can keep the Revenant though. This is just my insurance." He straightened again, ignoring Kat who stood next to him. For a moment he only looked at his brother before he carefully nudged his devastated chest with his foot. That send another wave of pain through Dante's whole body.

"Fuck you, Vergil", the hunter growled while Kat went to his other side and knelt down next to him. "I'm fine", he then lied through gritted teeth in an attempt to comfort her.

Vergil turned around to leave. Dante wondered if he avoided to look at Kat or if he just had enough.

"Where are you going?", he asked instead.

"A victory against you wouldn't be satisfying considering your condition. There is a lot of work to be done to find and open the gate, so take your time to recover."

"I'll find you", the hunter promised.

"I'll make sure you do", Vergil said and opened another one of his portals. "See you soon." Then he left again. But this time there was no anger or disappointment in his voice. Dante cursed him though. Again his twin had ignored Kat completely. There was no goodbye to her nor even the hint that he had noticed her presence but for his comment about the weapon and the fact he hadn't stabbed her when he killed Statius. What the hell was going on inside that man's head?

Kat didn't understand the talking about the gate because Dante didn't tell her about Vergil's plans. It was something she probably couldn't understand and he didn't want her to look for his brother again. Vergil had promised to inform him before he would make his next step. That had to be enough. At least for Dante it was. And the medium was easily distracted when she got to know about Phineas. She spend a lot of time searching through the debris, while Dante recovered, but all she had found when she came back was Phineas' eye. The old guy had had no chance and Dante felt guilty that he had brought him here. He should have known better. Phineas hadn't been a fighter all along. Fuck safe distance. No distance had been large enough to avoid Statius attacks, let alone when you're old and slow. But Phineas must have known the danger. He had tried it though and that was something Dante really appreciated. Of course Kat started crying as soon as she realized the demon was dead. Dante hold her like he had at Silver Sacks towers.

"You're crying for a demon", he softly informed her. This surely was something new.

"He was a friend", she whispered in between sobs. She was right.

Outside the building the rain had stopped. Slowly Dante led the way to Kat's car with her still sobbing and clinging to him. The hunter wanted to know why she had come and why she hadn't at least brought some of the men with her. He didn't ask though. Apparently they had let her go alone. That was when he realized that Kat was the only friend he really had. It was the same situation like at Silver Sacks but this time he had changed perspective. She would always get herself in danger, he feared. And danger would always come after him. To keep her safe he would leave the town - alone. The demons would come after him and that would leave her secure and healthy. And if she was lucky she would finally forget Vergil and maybe never have to see him again. This was not the right time to tell her but in the end he would.


	7. Epilogue

Status: not beta-ed again, complete  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Devil May Cry.

Note: Since Vergil's downfall is released I should tell you that I wrote most of this story much earlier, so Vergil's recent events are ignored in Perspective.

**Epilogue**

_1 year later_

Another demon infested town on the demon infested planet. People had been shocked about the creatures that were now swarming around but clever and adaptive as men were some of them invented a new business: devil hunting. Dante had laughed about that but soon Kat started texting him about the money she and the guys made. Human devil hunters - so that really became a job. It didn't take Dante long to jump on the bandwagon. He was much better in this business and he could use a bit of money. And it was the right decision. When he first had his trailer he now had a small house. It wasn't the best around but it was close to downtown and it was cheap. It was his HQ. The interior wasn't bad at all, too. He had bought an old jukebox and a set of new drums because he had always liked music, though his taste had slightly changed over the last year. Then there was a pool table - another part of his new luxurious life. The rest was the normal stuff. In a shelf up the stairs in his bedroom he hid his little secret: Phineas' notes. They had led him to this place, indicating that there must be a hell gate somewhere close. It was Dante's best guess where to find Phineas' first book and his brother. Of course he didn't really look for the latter. If he did he would have brought Kat with him. No, he was actually just putting her out of danger by moving away. He could've gone everywhere. But he was here now. And the text on his mobile phone read 'Found a trace of him?'. It laid on the nightstand where he used to forget it. Mainly the phone served as an alarm- clock. Kat had bought him this thing when she realized she couldn't stop him from leaving. He hardly ever answered her calls so they were just texting. Still she tried it. The phone showed her number and played the music of some Metal song but Dante didn't notice it this time either. He was showering downstairs, the rushing of water being the only sound he heard. When he had finished she had given up. But another phone had started to ring. It meant business. He took his time though, trying to dry his silver hair before he sat down at his desk and answered the call.

"Sorry, not open for business yet", he said and hung up. He was amused that he already got calls although he had not yet made any real efforts of building a reputation. The few demons he slayed to get his new home and the street clean had hardly been a challenge. Still he had been surprised that they looked quite different to what he was used to. New place, new people, new demons.

He relaxed against the back of his chair, picking up a slice of his pizza. It was cold by now but he didn't mind. Still water dropped from his hair onto his bare neck and shoulders. Yet he felt at peace - at least for a moment. Then the door opened.

"You're a costumer, too?", he asked but got no immediate answer. "Well", he exhaled, "If you wanna use the bathroom, help yourself. The toilets are in the back."

"Is your name Dante? Son of Sparda?", the bald- headed man asked while strolling closer, tracing the rim of the pool table with his fingers.

That caught Dante's attention. Was Vergil finally making his move? He had promised to inform him before he opened the gate. After a whole year, was this the day he would fight him again?

"Where did you hear that?", the hunter asked carefully.

"From your brother", the man answered, finally arriving at the desk. "He send this invitation for you."

A/N: So, that was my ulterior motive while writing Perspective: I wanted to link it to the other DMC parts. I know Capcom didn't meant to do that but hey, I'm not Capcom. There are a few adaptions to be made of course (Nephilim/ half devil; Sparda's banned/Sparda's dead; Vergil's blue amulet/Vergil's red amulet and so on) but the basic story would fit ... Well, at least I think so.

I decided to rewrite Perspective from Vergil's point of view, so if you liked the story you may want to keep an eye out for it. It will take a while though. I'll try to keep you entertained meanwhile with one-shots or other short stories but please don't stone me to death if I can't keep the stories coming. Vergil's side of Perspective will come. That's a promise. After this, I'm going to upload a little easter gift for you - and my first one-shot ever.

Thanks a lot for reading this story, for favouring and following it. And I can't say it often enough: Thanks for the reviews. Writing is a lot more fun with feedback.


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